Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson departs after a closed classified briefing for members of the Senate on North Korea and Afghanistan on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, September 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Tillerson Is Working with China and Russia – Very, Very Quietly

by David Ignatius | Sep 11, 2017 | Opinion

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has often been the silent man in the Trump foreign policy team. But out of the spotlight, he appears to be crafting a broad strategy aimed at working with China to resolve the North Korea crisis and with Russia to stabilize Syria and...

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Smoke is seen following an airstrike on the western frontline of Raqqa on July 17, during an offensive by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a majority Kurdish and Arab alliance, to retake the city from ISIS fighters. (Bulent Kilic/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE via Getty Images)

Trump’s Big Decision in Syria

by David Ignatius | Sep 9, 2017 | Opinion

As the US-led coalition accelerates its campaign to destroy ISIS’ remaining strongholds in Syria, the Trump administration faces a big decision about the future: Does it want to keep some US troops inside the country to help stabilize Syria after the jihadists...

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Jeannie Rousseau at age 23 in Paris, at the time she was also working as a spy. (Family photo)

A Diminutive Woman — and a Spy who Defined Courage

by David Ignatius | Sep 4, 2017 | Opinion

Jeannie Rousseau de Clarens, one of the remarkable spies of World War II, died last week in France at the age of 98. Like so many intelligence officers, she had a gift for getting people to talk. But she had something else: dauntless, unblinking courage in facing the...

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US President Donald Trump. (AFP)

Trump’s Afghanistan Strategy isn’t to Win. It’s to Avoid Losing.

by David Ignatius | Aug 25, 2017 | Opinion

Will President Trump’s new Afghanistan strategy alter the dynamics of America’s longest and most frustrating war? Do commanders really have any better chance of succeeding now than when this conflict began 16 years ago? I put those questions by phone Tuesday to Gen....

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Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool/European Pressphoto Agency)

Russia’s Election Meddling Backfired

by David Ignatius | Aug 22, 2017 | Opinion

Intelligence officers sometimes talk about “blowback,” when covert actions go bad and end up damaging the country that initiated them. A year later, that is surely the case with Russia’s secret attempt to meddle in the US presidential election, which has brought a...