Basra is a city located in the southeast of Iraq, bordering the countries of Kuwait and Iran. Basra is known as the oil capital of Iraq, yet despite the abundance of wealth, the whole country, and esp…
A Look at the Aftermath of the Battle for Mosul
On any given morning, the vibrant but battered city of Mosul is bustling with commercial activity, the liveliness of its citizens contrasting starkly with the devastation of the landscape that lies ar…
The Sovereign State: A Look at Catalonia and Kurdistan
“Common sense will tell us, that the power which hath endeavoured to subdue us, is of all others, the most improper to defend us.” ― Thomas Paine, Common Sense Part I: Catalonia Catalonia, an…
Stranded
This piece introduces a series addressing several issues I saw during my time at a refugee camp in Samos from June-August 2017, including mental health, children in the camp, criminal justice, the asy…
Nothing is Fair, Sanctions or War
At the ripe age of 12, most American kids are concerned with making friends at school or convincing their parents to let them see R rated movies. When Joseph Kim was 12, he was solely concerned with s…
The Reformation Conundrum
Why Ayaan Hirsi Ali is wrong. Islam does not need a reformation. The rise of ISIS has created a number of question about the nature of Islam, ranging from the state of the religion today to fundamenta…
Turkey’s Role in the Syrian Crisis
Turkey’s assistance to the Islamic State goes beyond providing open borders for ISIS militants. By the end of 2015, Turkey is expected to host as many as nearly two million Syrian refugees. The countr…
Iraqi National Reconciliation
Iraqi army officers made two attempts on the life of the country’s prime minister, Haider Al-Abadi, before being thwarted by the US Embassy in Baghdad, according to a high-level Iraqi official. This i…
The Deal of the Decade
Many thought this day would never come. In an interesting turn of events, negotiations between the United States and Iran over a developing nuclear deal are currently underway. Secretary of State John…
AUMF 2015 and the War on ISIL
There is a common refrain in American politics when politicians discuss taking military action in foreign countries. “[insert country of interest here] is going to be another Afghanistan… another Iraq…
American Sniper: Opposing Scopes
From The Hurt Locker to Zero Dark Thirty, military combat films have become increasingly controversial in the media. But has political correctness gone too far or can these films divorce politics from…
The Achilles Heel of the New Wave of Anti-Terror Legislation
There has been much talk about the recent shootings in Canada and how it bodes ill for Canadian national security. However, the bigger takeaway is how poorly governments are reacting to the problem of…
Empty Promises: The Impact of ISIS on Kurdish-Turkish Relations
The Battle between the Turks and Kurds has been raging for years, but it seems the relationship between the two has reached an all-time low as a result of the unprecedented rise of the Islamic State (…
Underestimation Nation
On October 15th Fox News presented a poll that found 58% of Americans felt “things in the world are ‘going to hell in a handbasket.” [1] These findings tell us two things. First, we should probably qu…