List of Balkans articles
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A migrant walks among tents at the Vucjak camp on the outskirts of Bihac in Bosnia and Herzegovinia on Nov. 20. Croatia Is Abusing Migrants While the EU Turns a Blind Eye
The evidence of Croatian police violence toward migrants is overwhelming, but Brussels continues to praise and fund Zagreb for patrolling the European Union’s longest external land border.
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Turkish-backed Syrian Arab fighters man a checkpoint in the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin in northern Syria after seizing control of it from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) on March 18, 2018. The Fight for ISIS’s Old Territory Is Just Beginning
A host of forces including Turkish and Iranian proxies to Russian troops and Syrian government forces are jockeying for control of the lands that once were held by the Islamic State.
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US President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Winfield House, London on Dec. 3, 2019. NATO Defense Funds Have Been Building for Years, but Trump Wants the Credit
Renewed defense spending by European states is in part a response to Russian aggression.
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French President Emmanuel Macron (right) jokes with U.S. President Donald Trump (center) next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) as they arrive for the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11, 2018. Don’t Blame Turkey for NATO’s Woes
Emmanuel Macron thinks the Atlantic alliance is brain-dead, but its problems have deeper roots than the recent U.S.-Turkish spat over Syria.
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(L-R) Leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom Geert Wilders, Belgian Vlaams Belang party member Gerolf Annemans, Italy's League party leader, Matteo Salvini, president of the French National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, and others at a rally of European nationalists ahead of European elections on May 18 in Milan. How Europe’s Nationalists Became Internationalists
Many European far-right parties made their mark by railing against the EU. Now they are appealing to a pan-European identity to further their goal of a racially pure, white Christian continent.
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Nzeyimana Consolate arrives carrying her baby at the Nyabitara transit site, among other Burundian refugees, on Oct. 3, 2019 in Ruyigi, Burundi. Nearly 600 Burundians who fled political violence in their home country to Tanzania were repatriated voluntarily, the U.N. refugee agency said. Sending Refugees Back Makes the World More Dangerous
Repatriating refugees to dangerous countries violates international law and breeds conflict, instability, and future crises. Regional work visas and long-term integration into host countries are more promising solutions.
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Fatima Khode al-Shalla, 36, walks through her home in Malkef, Syria, on Nov. 6 as her family prepares to move to another village about 15 miles to the west to avoid the advancing war. Life on the Front Lines in Northern Syria
With echoes of shelling from Turkish-allied forces nearby, families sheltering in abandoned villages wonder when they can go home.
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Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Erdogan’s Attacks on His Old Ally Could Backfire
The Turkish president is shutting down a university to punish former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for leaving the AKP and starting a new party, but he risks alienating precisely the voters he claims to champion.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump participate in a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on Nov. 13 in Washington. Trump Is Happy to Seem Weak Next to Erdogan
The benefits of their personal relationship are clear for the Turkish president. But the U.S. president has his reasons, too.
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An armed Libyan coast guardsman stands on a boat after the interception of 147 migrants attempting to reach Europe near the coastal town of Zawiyah on June 27, 2017. The West’s Obsession With Border Security Is Breeding Instability
In the name of fighting illegal immigration, the EU, the United States, and Australia are emboldening authoritarian regimes, fueling abuses and corruption, and stoking intolerance at home.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan take part in a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Nov. 13. How Erdogan Played Trump (Again)
Turkey’s recalcitrant president won a White House platform to spout his views. The U.S. president got little in return.
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Syrian security forces stop civilians from approaching the site of an explosion in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Nov. 11. Syrian Refugees Accuse Turkey’s Proxy Army of Abusing Civilians
Those displaced in northeastern Syria have called the operation a form of ethnic cleansing.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Erdogan Wants to Redraw the Middle East’s Ethnic Map
Turkey’s plans in Syria are part of a long and dark history of population transfer stretching back to the Ottoman era.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend the opening ceremony at the 2018 NATO Summit on July 11, 2018 in Brussels. Washington Rolls Out the Unwelcome Mat for Turkish President
Lawmakers are still fuming over Erdogan’s incursion into northeastern Syria.
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Smoke rises from an Israeli army post blown away by army engineers near the town of Zarit on the Israeli-Lebanese border on May 16, 2000, as part of the preparation for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Israel’s Occupation of Lebanon Failed. Turkey’s Invasion of Syria Probably Will, Too.
Safe zones rarely bring security benefits, and the Turkish incursion in northern Syria risks ending the same way as Israel’s disastrous occupation of southern Lebanon.
