Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
President Trump takes on the Middle East – Iran Brian M Downing No newly-elected president has caused more anxiety and speculation than Donald Trump. His hastily proposed polices and mercurial temperament worry foreign leaders and fellow Republicans alike. Many US foreign policy experts have publicly declared him unfit for the presidency. Read More …
Russia looks for opportunities in Iraq Brian M Downing Russia and the United States are engaged in Cold War Two – a global contest for influence, trade, military bases, and power. Russia, in conjunction with China, want to establish hegemony in the Eurasian land mass, including the Middle East. Read More …
Kurdistan after the liberation of Mosul Brian M Downing Iraqi troops will probably retake Mosul in coming weeks or months. The battle will be fierce, the casualties, both civilian and military, will be high. Afterwards, old political conflicts that were put aside after the 2014 ISIL offensive will reemerge and Read More …
Muslim Press: How do you analyze Washington’s role in Iran-Iraq war? Brian Downing: The US was in the awkward position of opposing both countries: Iran for the embassy hostage situation and its calls for revolution; Iraq for its brutal government, alignment with the Soviet Union, and hostility to Israel. The Read More …
The Iranian nuclear agreement, American elections, and Israeli generals Brian M Downing Last year’s nuclear deal with Iran occasionally appears in the rintresidential campaign. The GOP candidate decries it as one of many mistakes made by his Democratic opponent, who was Secretary of State in the lead-up to the agreement. Read More …
Israeli generals, the Palestinian question, and a growing divide Brian M Downing The matter of a Palestinian state has for the most part fallen by the wayside. Recently, however, Vladimir Putin has broached the idea of holding talks in Russia between Israel and the Palestinians. The talks will not be Read More …
The House of Saud comes down on ISIL Brian M Downing Saudi Arabia was jolted by three ISIL bombings earlier this week. One of them shook the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina – a centerpiece of the Kingdom which confers prestige from much of the Islamic world. The bombing calls into Read More …
Netanyahu builds up his majority – and the “iron wall”? Brian M Downing Last week Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu replaced his defense minister with Avigdor Lieberman – a conservative who has found a niche to the right of the PM. Lieberman’s public support is in the Russian immigrant community and Read More …
Israel and Iran were once allies, both before and after the 1979 revolution that brought the mullahs to power. Hostility began in the nineties and sharpened as suspicions of an Iranian nuclear weapons program grew over the last decade. The recent agreement has done little to soften things. The Israeli government opposes rapprochement between the Read More …
The Syrian civil war, despite movement of the lines here and there, has been stalemated for well over a year. The ongoing Russian-Iranian offensive may retake Aleppo and Idlib, though without having the momentum or numbers to defeat the rebels. World leaders are looking for a solution but trust is low Read More …