ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Global Empire or Fortress America?   Written and produced by SF Team: J.Hawk, Daniel Deiss, Edwin Watson While on the campaign trail, President-Elect Donald J. Trump made a range of statements suggesting a shift away from a policy of interventionism, combined with a focus on safeguarding US borders and jobs at the expense of the dominant ideology of globalism. Can and will he deliver on these promises? There are many reasons to believe he will genuinely push US foreign policy in this direction, but at the same time he will face obstacles on his path. One of the factors clearly helping him is the increasingly indisputable fact that globalism as an ideology has been discredited, except, ironically, among the liberal “creative classes” and among the financial elites. The rest of the society and of the elite is increasingly skeptical of such policies if not downright opposed to them, which means they are willing to experiment with...

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (3:50 P.M.) - The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has made several advances inside the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo today, capturing approximately 40-45 percent of the last jihadist pocket in the provincial capital. Led by the elite Tiger Forces, the Syrian Arab Army managed to capture the Sheikh Fares, Haydariyah, and Al-Sakhour districts of east Aleppo today after overrunning the jihadist rebels in the northern pocket of this contested region. Following the capture of those aforementioned districts, the Syrian Armed Forces seized the Scientific Research Facility in the Jabal Badro area, killing a dozen militants before continuing their advance westward. Northwest of Jabal Badro, the Syrian Arab Army's Republican Guard, alongside Liwaa Al-Quds (Palestinian paramilitary), launched their first attack on the Ma'asaraniyah Youth Housing Complex near the 'Ard Al-Hamra District. Despite reports of the Syrian Armed Forces capturing the Youth Housing Complex, Al-Masda...

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (4:50 P.M.) - Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary) have mobilized a large force in the southern countryside of Aleppo, as they prepare to launch a massive offensive that is expected to rival their 2015 assault. According to a Syrian Army source in Aleppo city, Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba have been increasing their manpower for several days now, in preparation for their offensive to recapture the key town of Khan Touman. Khan Touman is strategically located along the Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5 Highway) in southern Aleppo; its proximity to the jihadist stronghold of Saraqib in Idlib makes the seizure of this town a top priority for Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba. While Al-Masdar cannot confirm Hezbollah's plans after Khan Touman; it is very likely that they will make a major push to lift the siege on the predominately Shi'i towns of Kafraya and Al-Fou'aa near the provincial capital of Idlib. In order to reach Al-Fou'aa and Kafraya...