Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing The Iranian nuclear talks ended without agreement, except to extend the deadline on negotiations until next July. Over the next few months, world events may change the positions of the powers involved. The pause also offers time to better understand each power’s viewpoint. Each country, including Iran, Read More …
Brian M Downing The unexpected Islamic State offensive into Iraq has rattled capitals and altered political dynamics in the Gulf. Led by Saudi Arabia, the Sunni monarchies were moving away from the United States owing to its support for democracy in the region and its effort to reopen ties with Read More …
Brian M Downing The four armed groups warring in Iraq – Islamic State (IS), the Kurdish peshmerga, the Iraqi army, and Sunni tribal levies – have strengths and weaknesses. They also have varying levels of foreign support and capacities for cooperation. IS troops have a marked qualitative edge but are Read More …
Brian M Downing The Egyptian generals stand to come out of the present crisis more powerful than before, if they play it right. The old regime – Mubarak’s regime – comprised family cliques, business oligarchs, and the army elite. Two years ago, the army objected to Mubarak’s son as president-in-waiting Read More …
Brian M. Downing The uprisings of the Arab Spring have been supported in the West and many other countries as well. The tide is seen as welcome, inevitable, and essential to placing the region on a proper political and economic track. That view, however, is not shared in Saudi Arabia. Read More …
Brian M Downing The United States faces another embarrassment amid its difficult wars in the Islamic world. Following close on the heels of atrocities and miscues in Afghanistan, it has come to light that Colonel Matthew Dooley, an instructor at a military graduate school, taught his officers that the US Read More …
Brian M Downing The national borders from the eastern Mediterranean to the Iranian border were made after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. Britain and France, with little consideration for sectarian or ethnic realities, drew lines across the area and established the new countries of Iraq and Syria. Read More …
Trita Parsi’s first book, Treacherous Alliance (2008), displayed a masterful understanding of the open and hidden dealings between Iran, the US, and Israel over the last thirty-five years. This impressive follow-up study of events since President Barack Obama came to office in 2009 is welcome and exceptionally well-timed. The new administration Read More …
Brian M Downing Discussion of a possible war between Iran and the coalition aligning against it centers on destroying Iranian nuclear sites and ensuring that oil tankers freely transit the Strait of Hormuz. Countries embarking on war scrutinize as many scenarios and possibilities as they can, but wars invariably present Read More …
Brian M Downing The once seemingly overwhelming momentum of the democratic movements in the Middle East has been stopped or at least slowed in many countries. The forces behind staunching the tide of change are often domestic in nature, but Saudi Arabia is playing an important supporting role – sometimes Read More …