Photo source: The New Arab By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront Turkey has retained a military presence in northern Syria, after it launched its first border operation in August 2016, through Operation Euphrates Shield to fight Islamic State near Turkey’s border, and to also prevent Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from advancing further westward.   Turkey completed Euphrates Shield after capturing the city of Al-Bab from Islamic State in March 2017. Turkish allied militia and the Turkish army control these regions. Turkey has launched a total of four of its military operations since 2016. All its major ground operations needed to be carefully deconflicted with Moscow. The last one, in 2019, also required coordination with a chaotic Trump White House. While Trump first gave the green light, he later changed his tune and threatened Turkey with heavy sanctions. Such discord on the American front made Turkish-Russian coordination even more essential for Ankara. Ankara has even ...

  Photo source: Al Jazeera By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront Burkina Faso’s army announced in late January 2022 that it had deposed President Roch Kabore, the government, and the national assembly. It had also suspended the constitution. On a state television, the army officers blustered that the coup had been done without carrying out violence in the country, and those detained were kept in a secure location. The statements, signed by Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo, were made in the name of a previously unheard  entity, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration or MPSR, according to its French language acronym. The army even chaired a 15-person technical committee charged with proposing a timeline for a transitional government that would lead the country to elections in near future. The coup was planned because of Kabore's inability to keep the nation together, mainly after twenty seven year rule of Compaore. There was also a failed coup in 2015, but this time th...

  Photo source: Daily Sabah By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront In January 2022, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that its air force had begun joint patrols with Syrian military pilots along Syria’s borders. As reported by Al Arabiya News, the patrols involved fighter jets, fighter‑bombers and airborne early warning aircraft, flying routes from the Golan Heights through southern Syria and then along the Euphrates River up to the north. Moscow presented these patrols as demonstrations of solidarity with the Assad regime and as measures to help Damascus pre‑emptively counter threats. They also served Russia’s longer‑term goal of assisting Assad in regaining control over territory still held by opposition groups. Adam Lammon, writing for the Centre for the National Interest, argued that the patrols were designed to enhance the Syrian military’s independent capabilities, asserting sovereignty while reducing Russia’s operational burden. Paul Iddon in Forbes offered a more nuanc...

  Photo source: Council on Foreign Relations By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront The grotesque war in Yemen entered a critical juncture in January 2022 when the Saudi-led coalition launched a series of air strikes at a prison facility. It was retaliation by Saudis for a missile and a drone attack, against the United Arab Emirates, in an industrial district of Abu Dhabi. Houthis called the reason for the attack on the prison facility 'baseless' and 'unfounded'. But, Saudis believed that they had attacked a facility which was not placed on the No Strike List, and that it didn’t adhere to international humanitarian laws. Although, the killing of civilians tells a different story. According to Medecins Sans Frontieres statements in Financial Times, Al Gumhouriyeh Hospital was so overwhelmed that it couldn’t take patients. This is the second time, after a period of some months when Houthis also suffered headcount losses. In October 2021, when Houthis tried to seize Marib,...

  Photo source: Guardian By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront By installing Raoudha Boudent Ramadhane, a politically unknown, as Tunisia’s first woman prime minister in September 2021, President Kais Saied showed his intentions of not taking a long-time grab at power. Earlier, there were howls about an extended coup. This announcement was a breathing room for the entire international community.  As months passed by since July 2021, Tunisians got concerned about where their democracy was heading, due to a lack of clear-cut political plans. They earlier had been disillusioned about the bickering of the ruling political coalition. However, Saied had failed in delivering what his nation required: economic prosperity. But now, it seemed there was another attempt at breaking the deadlock, as Tunisia has been mostly in political limbo since ousting of Ben Ali in 2011. Many observers argued that as the country has been the birthplace of Arab spring, the first Arab female prime minis...