Jerusalem Post, 17/5 On May 8th, fighters of the Kurdish PKK militia began to withdraw from their positions in Turkey, bound for their mountain strongholds in Kurdish-ruled northern Iraq. The decision by the PKK to withdraw is the result of orders issued by jailed movement leader Abdullah Ocalan. The re-energizing of the Turkish-Kurdish ‘peace process’ is one of the most important of the phenomena generated by the seismic shifts currently under way in the Middle East. But the foundations … [Read more...]
About Jonathan Spyer
Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center in Herzliya, Israel, the author of The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict (Continuum, 2010) and a columnist at the Jerusalem Post newspaper. Spyer holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a Masters' Degree in Middle East Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He served in a front-line unit of the Israel Defense Forces in 1992-3, and fought in the war in Lebanon in summer 2006. Between 1996 and 2000, Spyer was an employee of the Israel Prime Minister's Office.
The Israeli Debate over Syria
By May 16, 2013
Tablet Magazine, 14/5: The civil war in Syria has led to a keen debate among the professional echelon tasked with advising policymakers in Israel. This debate has been reflected in a more subdued public conversation and occasionally in spectacular events—like the bombing of Syrian military sites around Damascus. So, what are the dividing lines in this Israeli debate? Does Israel back any side in the war in Syria? And what would be an optimal outcome from the Israeli point of … [Read more...]
Is Assad Winning?
By May 3, 2013
The imminent demise of the Assad regime has been announced on numerous occasions over the last two years of civil war in Syria. But the regime has held on. Despite some advances by rebels in the south of the country in the early months of 2013, Assad shows no signs of cracking. Indeed, in the last few weeks, the momentum of the fighting has somewhat shifted. Regime forces have clawed back areas of recent rebel advance. The government side, evidently under Iranian tutelage, has showed an … [Read more...]
Muslim Brotherhood Presides over Growing Chaos in Egypt
By April 12, 2013
Jerusalem Post, 12/2: Recent days have seen a further sharp deterioration in Egypt. Against a background of economic crisis, Salafi Islamist groups are increasingly assertive. The Salafis are engaged in the violent harassment of Egyptian Copts and secular oppositionists, and in ongoing attempts to pressurize the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohammed Mursi to accede to their policy demands through public agitation and disorder. The government, meanwhile, finds itself caught in … [Read more...]
Iran’s Silent War in the Gulf
By April 6, 2013
Jerusalem Post, 5/4: A series of trials currently under way in the neighboring Gulf states of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain offer a glimpse into the ongoing, silent war being waged by Iran against its regional rivals. Bahrain is of particular interest to Teheran. The tiny island emirate is home to a Shia majority – ruled over by the Sunni Khalifa monarchy. Iranian officials often describe Bahrain as rightfully constituting the ‘14th province’ of Iran. A Shia insurgency was crushed … [Read more...]
THE NINETEENTH ISRAELI KNESSET ELECTIONS: LACKLUSTER ELECTION, SIGNIFICANT RESULTS
By April 4, 2013
For the first time since the 1970s, there was no serious dispute as to who would emerge as prime minister from the 2013 Israeli elections campaign. Despite the lackluster campaign, the election results and the government that emerged from them do represent a certain change. Most notably, the election campaign focused on internal issues. This is because a core, centrist consensus on external and national security affairs now exists among a critical mass of Israeli Jews. This is also reflected … [Read more...]
In Syria, Western Illusions Lead to Ill-Advised Action
By March 23, 2013
PJ Media, 23/3: The signs are now unmistakable: both openly and behind the scenes, a major Western effort to bring the Syrian civil war to a close with the defeat of the Assad regime is now underway. This is being undertaken with intentions of ending the stalemate in the war, and of preventing the dominance within the rebel camp of extreme, jihadi elements. The effort is taking a variety of forms. Reports indicate the training of rebels on Jordanian soil by British, French, and … [Read more...]
The Kurds are for the Kurds
By March 9, 2013
Weekly Standard, 9/3. In northeast Syria, from the border with Iraq to the disputed town of Seri Kaniyah, a de facto Kurdish autonomous region has emerged. The area, known to the Kurds as western Kurdistan, is ruled by the Democratic Union party (PYD). This is the Syrian franchise of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), which has been waging a military campaign against Turkey since 1984. The Kurds’ creation and successful defense of this area has largely been ignored in media … [Read more...]
War over the Ruins
By March 8, 2013
Jerusalem Post, 8/3. The Syrian civil war bursts its banks This week, 48 Syrian soldiers who were reported as having ‘sought refuge’ in Iraq were ambushed and killed on Iraqi soil. At least 9, and possibly as many as 19 Iraqi soldiers who were reported as being in escort of the convoy of Syrian defectors also died in the ambush. This incident lays bare the extent to which the Syrian civil war has now burst its banks. The expansion follows the lines of local and regional sectarian … [Read more...]
“It’s Probably Too Late Now”: Interview on Syria with Jonathan Spyer
By February 26, 2013
The interview with Judith Levy concerns a recent reporting trip I made to Syrian Kurdistan … [Read more...]
