Next month will mark the two-decade anniversary of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. It deserves a more impartial evaluation than it has received.

The United States will face a careful balancing act as Erdogan confronts the greatest challenge to his rule in over two decades. A wrong move could push Turkey into the arms of Moscow and Beijing.

A narrowing inner-circle, purges of the entire state apparatus, and popularity conflated with sedition. Khamenei's management of the Islamic Republic resembles the Shah's final years.

Netanyahu's victory reinforces the fact that for now he is the only man able to bridge Israel's divides and coopt the nation's fragmented political forces.

(Originally published on AMAC https://amac.us/bidens-next-foreign-policy-disaster-destroying-iraq/)

The United States cannot afford passive-aggression with a Saudi Arabia which has other options, and enormous political capital within Washington. (From AMAC https://amac.us/biden-driving-saudis-into-chinas-arms/)

Almost everything the US did in Afghanistan failed. But Democracy did not, as it was never seriously tried. (Originally published by AMAC https://amac.us/democracy-didnt-fail-in-afghanistan-anti-democratic-liberalism-did

All signs point to an uncontrolled outbreak of Ncov19 among Iran's political and military elite. The virus has the potential to not just topple the Iranian regime but reshape the Middle East.

US aid to the Syrian opposition never had a political objective, and therefore lacked any viable military goals as well. The decision of the Trump Adminstration to terminate it will be spun as Pro-Russian, but is overdue

For all the focus on Rouhani's reelection as President, the real shift in Iran happened downballot a delayed effect of how important the transfer of the Presidency in 2013 actually was despite the limitations.

For all the talk of an Obama-doctrine giving way to a Pro-Russian Trump policy, the shift back to realism already occured during the Syrian conflict.

The dominant figure in Iran following Khomeini's death in 1989, Rafsanjani tried to build a political order on personality rather than ideology or policy and found himself adrift and distrusted by all sides.

It needs to be accepted that the Peace Process in Israel is currently comotose and will remain so until it is recognized that any settlement will have to be on Israel's terms or the result of military force.

The events in Aleppo are tragic, but they are also the inevitible result of a policy based on moral outrage rather than strategic calculation, or even an effort to limit human suffering.

The death of another Syrian rebel "leader" highlights the extent to which Western policy towards Syria increasingly running on sheer inertia with not clear objectives or end goals.

The confused reaction to the clash between Moscow and Ankara is a testement to how the West's goals in Syria have become so confused that contradictory policies are being pursued simultanously.

The recent Israeli elections are a testement to the degree to which the Palestinian issue has become an afterthought even for Israelis. And that is worrysome for Israel's relations with Europe.

Poltical activism against Israeli actions in Gaza has begun to mirror those actions, falling into a pattern of almost pro forma, generic demands that bear little resemblence to the reality of the conflict.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza serves no strategic or political purpose and is being carried out, much like Hamas' own rocket attacks, in service to sheer inertia.

It is apparent that as often as politicians speak of the Middle East "Peace Process" no such process exists, or can exist until every party recognizes the truism that settlements must reflect the facts on the ground

Despite both sharing an enmity with ISIS, the US and Iran have very different goals in Iraq, and the methods being used are often in direct conflict.

It has become a cliche to blame the international borders imposed by European powers for the problems of the Middle East. The Syrian/Iraqi border actually represents divisions thousands of years old.

With politicking already begining for Iran's 2016 elections, will Iranian-American talks fall victim to the need of politicians in both nations to grandstand.

The debate over intervention in Syria marks a watershed in US politics. For the first time since the Iraq War, Barack Obama has clearly positioned the Democrats as the interventionist, pro-war party in American politics

Intervention in Syria is something that the entire Western elite insist is neccisary, but at the same time are determined to do everything in their power to avoid.

The overthorw of Mohamad Morsi in Egypt marks a revolutionary change in the balance of power in the Middle East, and shifts the environment decidly against Syria's rebels and their outside backers.

Ali Khamenei may be widely considered the most powerful man in Iran, but when he was selected as Faqih(Supreme Leader) in 1989 he was cipher, widely considered a figurehead. How did he become what he is today?

The office of Faqih, or Surpreme Leader to the Western media, is simultanousnly the most important and least understood in the Iranian system. It is Supreme not in the Stalin sense, but rather in that of Japan's Emperor.

An overview of the contenders to suceed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.