ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The Russian Air Force has helped the Syrian Democratic Forces liberate 20 residential areas from Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) around the city of Raqqa, the extremist groups’ stronghold, a Russian military spokesman said. Assisted by Russian air support, the Syrian Democratic Forces have made significant progress in IS-controlled areas in Syria, according to the head of the Russian General Staff’s operations department, Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy. “The troops of the Syrian Democratic Forces, commanded by Ayman Flyat el-Ganim, with the support of the Russian Air Force, conducted an offensive toward the ISIS capital, Raqqa. As a result of this offensive, approximately 20 residential areas were liberated from extremists. Strategic control was established over the important dam on the river Euphrates at al-Ahmar,” Rudskoy said at a press conference in Moscow. An opposition rebel group, the Syrian Democratic Forces, was established in October of 2015 that unite

By Pepe Escobar  In his seminal 'Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization,' Bryan Ward-Perkins writes, "Romans before the fall were as certain as we are today that their world would continue forever... They were wrong. We would be wise not to repeat their complacency.” The Empire of Chaos, today, is not about complacency. It’s about hubris – and fear. Ever since the start of the Cold War the crucial question has been who would control the great trading networks of Eurasia - or the “heartland”, according to Sir Halford John Mackinder (1861–1947), the father of geopolitics. We could say that for the Empire of Chaos, the game really started with the CIA-backed coup in Iran in 1953, when the US finally encountered, face to face, that famed Eurasia crisscrossed for centuries by the Silk Road(s), and set out to conquer them all. Only six decades later, it’s clear there won’t be an American Silk Road in the 21st century, but rather, just like its ancient predecessor, a Chinese o

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has released footage of their security forces on the streets of Sirte in Libya - the so-called ‘Islamic Police’. The terrorist group is trying to take over more Libyan territories, as the West eyes a possible intervention for the second time in five years. The footage is reportedly aimed at showing off IS control over Sirte. The terror group now holds territories far beyond Syria and Iraq, something raising concern across the world. “In Iraq and Syria, ISIL has suffered significant setbacks. It doesn’t mean that they don’t remain a threat. They do. <…> We’ve seen them try to get a toehold in North Africa,” US State Department spokesman John Kirby said during the latest press briefing. His fears are echoed by other US officials. Earlier, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter compared Islamic State’s presence in the Middle East with a“growing tumor.” “Even as we work to defeat ISIL in Syria and Iraq, where its parent tumor has grown, we als

In a message to the Libyan people, the US President said the 2011 Libyan revolution liberated them from “42 years of dictatorship.” Now there are “profound challenges,” which the Libyan people “have demonstrated the commitment to resolve.” Barack Obama welcomed the endorsement of the Libyan Political Agreement signed on December 17 and expressed confidence that with political dialogue and the establishment of a Government of National Accord, peace, prosperity, and security would come in the divided country. MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TO THE LIBYAN PEOPLE, DECEMBER 24, 2015رسالة من الرئيس باراك أوباما إلى الشعب اللي...Опубликовано U.S. Embassy Libya 23 декабря 2015 г. A week ago, during his end-of-year press conference, President Obama admitted the US has“some accountability” for not being swift enough and underestimating the need to rebuild government in Libya once Muammar Gaddafi was toppled. “As a consequence, you now have a very bad situation,” Obama said. The UN Secretary

Don't file this one under "surprising", but a video has emerged of ISIS jihadists having a lovely chit-chat with Turkish border guards. The video is allegedly from October, so this is not a new Turkish tourism campaign launched in the wake of losing hundreds of thousands of Russian tourists. No, Turkey just sort of "likes" ISIS. They go together like peas and carrots. This is precious : The clip begins with the two apparent jihadists lighting fires near a group of cars, which are believed to have been abandoned by desperate Kurdish families who fled Kobane in recent weeks when ISIS militants stepped up their attacks on the city. After appearing to realise they are being filmed from inside Turkey, the pair start walking towards the border fence, stopping only to mockingly wave at the amateur filmmaker. As they reach the border fence, an armoured military vehicle belonging to Turkish border guards speeds up to meet them. Heavily armed officials jump out the bac

Arrival of Russian S-400 has forced the US to halt manned flights in some parts of Syria, a Pentagon official said There is a new crisis for the international effort to destroy the Islamic State, created by the Kremlin. The U.S. has stopped flying manned air-support missions for rebels in a key part of northern Syria due to Russia’s expansion of air defense systems there, and the Barack Obama administration is scrambling to figure out what to do about it. Russia’s military operations inside Syria have been expanding in recent weeks, and the latest Russian deployments, made without any advance notice to the U.S., have disrupted the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to support Syrian rebel forces fighting against the Islamic State near the Turkey-Syria border, just west of the Euphrates River, several Obama administration and U.S. defense officials told us. This crucial part of the battlefield, known inside the military as Box 4, is where a number of groups have been fighting the Islamic

The Western public just has to get used to it - Assad's not going anywhere, and not because of what Russia or Iran says, but because he's Syrians' choice By David Macilwain On Sunday Syria's President Bashar al Assad went with his wife Asma to a Christmas Mass concert in Damascus. For many people in the West, the photos that soon appeared of Bashar and Asma hugging and being hugged by small children, old men and young women would probably cause consternation or apoplexy - if they were to see them. But this is unlikely, as Western media would exercise its duty of care to protect people from such an upsetting sight, and the public disorder that might result. It shouldn't worry however that people's perception of the Syrian leader might change for the better; it is simply not possible for this to happen, any more than it is possible that Syrians would change their minds about President Assad. The Western media apparatus has strange standards of propriety - often

The Jobar neighborhood of Damascus is the epicenter of some of the fiercest fighting in Syria with Islamist rebels refusing to give up their only stronghold. Once densely populated, the area has now been completely obliterated, RT’s Murad Gadziev reports. Most of the pre-conflict population has fled the rebel-held neighborhood of Jobar in the eastern suburb of Ghouta in Damascus, while fighting between the Syrian army and rebel groups has devastated the suburb over the past years. Before the conflict in Syria erupted in 2011, the neighborhood was home to some 300,000 residents, most of whom were Sunni Muslims. The suburb contained a number of ancient landmarks, most notably the Green Synagogue, the oldest Jewish synagogue in the world. It also contained the Grand Jobar Mosque in addition to the tomb of the Prophet Elijah. Jobar also housed ancient baths that were built during Ottoman times. Now totally destroyed, as can be seen in RT’s exclusive drone footage, Jobar is just one