By intervening squarely on the side of Shiite Bashar Assad against his own mainly Sunni people and the entire Sunni Middle East, Russia may once again be the center of attention from the global Sunni jihadist movement. But, unlike the 1980s in Afghanistan, these mujahadeen are much more experienced, much more sophisticated, much more capable, have a larger radicalized population from which to draw, and are able to strike anywhere, including Russia itself.
By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook...
A Sensible Grading of Obama’s Middle East Strategy: The Syrian Civil War
Grading Obama on what has—and has not—been done by his administration regarding the Syrian Civil War
By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981) August 3rd, 2015
Reuters
Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse here
Those who argue that the Obama Administration’s overall Middle East strategy is a total failure have no sense of strategy themselves and dangerously substitute tactical-here-and-nows...
A few days ago, the world was witnessing history in the making, as the P5+1 and Iran managed to reach an historical agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme. And while world leaders are now expressing their concerns about the document’s shortcomings, albeit in a restrained way, the political will and efforts of the parties, not to mention the result of these many years of negotiations, should not be underestimated.
Anton Khlopkov
, Director of the Center for Energy and Security Studies,...
... through the photos posted on social media by Russian troops allegedly deployed in the area. I have nothing but praise to express for the work of Mr. Higgins, but I wouldn't risk a nuclear escalation on a selfie.
Therefore, if it is true that in diplomacy truth is certainly an elastic concept, when it comes to justify military action the West has a proven track record of stretching that truth beyond its breaking point, and the defense of human rights has historically been a favorite among all ...
... see how America’s supposedly closest “ally” mistreats it when there are serious disagreements on policy and that there are no substantive consequences for such mistreatment.
Grade: D+
Obama deserves some credit for robust public diplomacy consistently condemning Israeli settlement expansion and even condemning the tactics used in Gaza last summer, and as well as the verbal efforts during many private meetings between senior Israeli and American officials including Netanyahu, ...
By Brian E. Frydenborg, February 26th, 2015 (updated February 27th-28th)
Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse here
If you think your site or another would be a good place for this content please do not hesitate to reach out to me! Please feel free to share and repost on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (you can follow me there at @bfry1981)
One of the sad things about looking at current commentary about Russia, America, and the state of their relationship is the lack of measured and reasoned...
If white Americans and Israeli Jews want African-Americans and Palestinians to cease with the ruckus, they must make their own societies and governments cease systematically bringing the ruckus to these darker-skinned neighbors of theirs.
By Brian E. Frydenborg, originally published January 7th, 2015
If you think your site or another would be a good place for this content please do not hesitate to reach out to me! Please feel free to share and repost on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (you...
When It Comes to U.S. Relationships in the Middle East, Expect a Lot More Change in Coming Years and Decades.
By Brian E. Frydenborg, originally published January 5th, 2015
If you think your site or another would be a good place for this content please do not hesitate to reach out to me! Please feel free to share and repost on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (you can follow me there at @bfry1981)
2014 has certainly been a year of change. While an ostensible explanation for this would be the...
How the Obama Administration Removed Iraq’s Largest Political Obstacle
Originally published Nov. 2nd, 2014
How Did It Come To This?
At some point during Obama’s second term of his presidency, he and his Administration realized that Nuri Kamal al-Maliki was part of the problem, not part of the solution. It did not help that when the administration realized this, violence in Iraq was increasing to levels not seen since the height of the near-civil-war experienced in 2006-2007 during...
How and why did you decide to become an interpreter?
One usually decides what one wants to be and what profession to follow in eighth or ninth grade at school. This was my case. I went to an ordinary school and my first English teacher was my mother (she taught English at school). But I was not really in for languages until my sixth or maybe even seventh school year. It came to me later, but it was serious and when the time came to apply for college, I chose the Foreign Languages Institute (Inyaz)...
