Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu recently proposed a visa-free trade zone with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. In an e-mail interview, Chatham House Associate Fellow Fadi Hakura explains Turkey’s trade relations with its Arab neighbors. WPR: What is Turkey’s current state of trade with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan? Fadi Hakura: Turkey engages in $3 billion of annual trade with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan collectively, representing 10 percent of Turkey’s trade volume with the Arab world, and is slightly above its $2.5 billion of annual bilateral trade with Israel. Overall, less than one-quarter of Turkish exports are destined to Arab markets, whereas [...]
I’ve consciously avoided commenting on the broader subject of Afghanistan strategy over the past six months for three reasons. First, I agreed with the Obama administration’s December 2009 strategy review. Second, even if I didn’t, it seems counterproductive to relitigate the decision at the appearance of every news item that suggests things might not be going as planned. Third, any strategy takes time to assess, and will often defy momentary appearances. So yes, Marjah was a disappointment, the Kandahar “offensive” has anti-climaxed before it even began, and it seems that the insurgency has made inroads into Afghanistan’s northern, non-Pashtun provinces. [...]
Apparently I wasn’t the only person who, in watching the North Korean soccer team’s World Cup matches, flinched every time one of their players screwed up, wondering what awaited them when they returned home. It turns out I should have been more concerned with the fate of the French national team, whose World Cup implosion has triggered the kind of absolute unity of opinion one rarely encounters here. But the popular outrage has become a political pile-on, with Thierry Henry scheduled to consult with President Nicolas Sarkozy at Elysée Palace today, and an Estates General of the country’s soccer federation [...]
