Policy Analysis

As the death toll in the Ankara bombing rises, watching Turkey has become like watching a disaster unfold in slow motion.

A safe haven along Syria's border with Turkey could involve several partners and send a clear message to Russia and Iran.

Moscow's intervention is intended to support the regime, is backed by a small but potent force, and appears set for the long haul.

Recent polling results suggest that King Abdullah's low-profile policy toward Syria is well calculated to keep him out of trouble.

Violence in the Holy City has unnerved the king, but the prospect of additional Syrian refugees constitutes a much greater threat to the kingdom's stability.

The Kurdish forces fielded by the YPG remain at the vanguard of the anti-ISIS fight in Syria, so providing them with GPS technology, faster airstrike coordination, and other assistance would greatly further U.S. interests.

The missile strikes on targets in Syria showed unprecedented cooperation between Russia and Iran, but they also serve as a wakeup call to Tehran about Moscow's expanding military profile in the Caspian.

The Iranian president has taken steps to limit his vulnerability to a plodding recovery, but over time a failure of sanctions relief to bring about dramatic economic improvements could harm his political outlook.

The new governing board has fewer young members, fewer women, and more old-guard members with close ties to President Erdogan, who is betting that this alignment will help the party regain its legislative majority next month.

Israel may feel abandoned by Washington, but Moscow is not the antidote.

Putin's latest Middle Eastern moves are aimed not so much at expanding his front line of tensions with the West, but rather at making a deal by proving that he has acquired a lot of cards in the region.

The resurgence of the Shiite axis was made possible in part by the absence of a credible U.S. policy in Syria, and it will only be bolstered if Washington embraces Russia and Iran as regional security partners.

The initial box-office success of "The Martian," following on the hits "Gravity" in 2013 and "Interstellar" in 2014, reflects the extent to which space exploration continues to captivate public imagination. Polling suggests that more than 50% of Americans favor sending an astronaut to Mars. In 2010, Pew found that 63%

The PYD will not hesitate to cooperate with Damascus and Moscow in the north if Turkey and the United States continue prohibiting the unification of Kurdish enclaves.

The province that Putin's jets buzzed this weekend holds special demographic and historical significance, raising questions about the incident's potential significance as a warning to Ankara.

The bold military gamble in Syria surprised and confused the international community, but Putin has given the United States and Turkey a reason to more assertively counter Russia's ambitions in its own backyard.

The president dismissed his critics on Syria for offering half-baked policy advice, but maybe the real problem is in the White House.

For all the praise (and relief) Moscow's deployment is eliciting in Tehran, continued Russian involvement will likely cut into Iran's influence.

The country has seen periods of turmoil before, but this time may be different.

An uninterrupted regional carrier presence would be preferable, given the host of threats, but these heavily used warships must undergo maintenance now to stay effective.