Tag: us

Iceland—In yet another European election Icelanders flocked to the polls to decide their nation’s future. Could the result spell trouble for NATO and U.S. interests in the Arctic? First some background. In the Second World War, the Allies had a strategically vital base in the small island nation. The Allied supply convoys from North America […]

The United States will vote against a U.N. General Assembly resolution on Wednesday calling for the lifting of the decades-old U.S. economic embargo against Cuba, reversing an abstention by Washington last year. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will vote against the resolution, introduced annually by Havana for 26 years, to underscore President Donald Trump’s new Cuba […]

President Trump’s assertive new strategy toward Iran is already colliding with the reality of Tehran’s vastly expanded influence in the Middle East as a result of the Islamic State war. The launch of the strategy signaled an important shift in U.S. Middle East policy away from an ­almost exclusive focus on fighting the Islamic State to an […]

As Iraqi forces reclaim the last stretches of territory held by the Islamic State, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said he would not allow his country to become an arena for the United States, Iran and Sunni powers to fight out their rivalries. “We would like to work with you, both of you,” Abadi said of […]

As the North Korean threat seems to increase on a daily basis the US is sending 12 F-35’s to Japan. The U.S. Air Force has announced that it will send its version of the advanced F-35 stealth fighter jet to Okinawa’s Kadena Air Base next month in the first such deployment to the Asia-Pacific region. […]

U.S.-backed forces in Syria claimed Tuesday that they had full control of the Islamic State’s onetime capital of Raqqa, heralding an end to the militants’ presence in their most symbolically important stronghold and raising new questions about the United States’ future role in Syria. Mustafa Abdi, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, […]

The United States has decided to withdraw from UNESCO, which will take effect next year.  The U.S. State Department said the withdrawal was due to anti-Israel bias alongside some financial considerations.  They stated a “need for fundamental reform in the organization” and will continue as a “non-member observer state” in the future. UNESCO (United Nations […]

Top Iranian officials recently suggested that if the U.S. labels the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), a powerful branch of the Iranian military, as a terrorist organization, Iran may retaliate by naming the U.S. Army a terrorist organization or the entire U.S. as a “terrorist country,” according to Iranian media reports. Speaking to reporters, Iranian […]

Turkey urged the United States on Monday to review its suspension of visa services after the arrest of a U.S. consulate employee sharply escalated tension between the two NATO allies and drove Turkey’s currency and stocks lower. Relations between Ankara and Washington have been plagued by disputes over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, […]

When they met last month in New York, President Trump hailed what he called his “personal relationship” with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said the United States and Turkey were “as close as we have ever been.” Erdogan called Trump “my dear friend Donald.” Close observers of Ankara and Washington would have been ­forgiven […]

Vice President Pence stated the Trump administrations commitment to continuing manned space exploration in a speech at the National Space Council (NSC) on October 5th. The highlight of the speech was when Pence stated, “We will return American astronauts to the moon.” He proposed that a return to the moon will be a stepping stone towards […]

The increasingly strained alliance between Turkey and the United States took a sharp downward turn Sunday when both governments abruptly announced they were canceling most visitor visas between the countries, sowing confusion among travelers and exposing a widening rift between the NATO partners. The crisis began when the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the Turkish capital, […]