Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing The violence in Syria has gone up markedly in the past two weeks, with massacres in at least two Sunni villages and sharp skirmishes between government forces and the rebel opposition in several cities. The United Nations has had to suspend its monitoring inside the country. The Read More …
Brian M Downing The remarkable uprisings across the Arab world of the last sixteen months have ousted or imperiled leaders in several countries, including Egypt, Yemen, and Syria. None of these movements, however, has been successful in its goal of creating a new political system let alone a democratic one. Read More …
A review of The Unmaking of Israel by Gershom Gorenberg. (New York: Harper, 2011). ISBN-10: 0061985082. Price US$25.99, 336 pages. by Brian M Downing. Gershom Gorenberg is an American-born Israeli and longtime critic of the West Bank occupation and keen observer of the religious right in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.1 He sees ominous trends Read More …
Brian M Downing A review essay of A New Voice for Israel: Fighting for the Survival of the Jewish Nation by Jeremy Ben-Ami; and The Unmaking of Israel by Gershom Gorenberg. The entry of the moderate Kadima party into the right-wing Likud government has brought questions as to what the Read More …
Brian M Downing Tensions between Iran on the one hand and the US and Israel have eased substantially since war loomed just a few weeks ago. Israeli politicians, generals, and security experts have openly expressed opposition to attacking Iran. More recently, the hawkish coalition in power has brought in the Read More …
Brian M Downing A new chapter in the Syrian resurrection is opening in the form of a wave of bombings. It comes on the heels of the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) failure to mount a significant defense of key cities and the outside powers’ indecision as to what to do 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 …
Brian M Downing The escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf and attendant positioning of military assets in the region gives the impression that war is all but inevitable. Machinery is in gear and turning faster and faster by the day, as it was in the lead-ups to the Gulf Read More …
Brian M Downing For over two weeks now, Syrian troops have surrounded Homs, a city of about a million people not far from the northern border with Lebanon. President Bashir Assad’s troops are firing indiscriminately into the hapless town, entering parts of it, and preparing a full assault to crush 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 …