Chris Blanchard
@cmblanchard.bsky.social
Citizen. MENA Analyst on a Hill. Objectively speaking. Views expressed are my own.
Pinned
Chris Blanchard
@cmblanchard.bsky.social
· Mar 11
crsreports.congress.gov
Updated CRS report on Transition in Syria and U.S. Policy: crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
CRS Report on Israeli Attack on Iran: Considerations for Congress www.congress.gov/crs_external...
www.congress.gov
June 14, 2025 at 2:08 AM
CRS Report on Israeli Attack on Iran: Considerations for Congress www.congress.gov/crs_external...
Do the Saudis want US defense support and supplies? Yes. Do the Saudis want to be assumed to have bottomless pockets or have a desire to always remain dependent on foreign arms? No.
Exclusive: The US is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, sources with direct knowledge told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during President Donald Trump's May visit to the kingdom reut.rs/4k8DiCv
Exclusive: Trump poised to offer Saudi Arabia over $100 bln arms package - sources
The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the kingdom in May.
reut.rs
April 25, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Do the Saudis want US defense support and supplies? Yes. Do the Saudis want to be assumed to have bottomless pockets or have a desire to always remain dependent on foreign arms? No.
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
April 19, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
WASHINGTON (AP) — US tells World Food Program, other partners it's ending some USAID contracts providing lifesaving aid, officials tell AP.
April 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — US tells World Food Program, other partners it's ending some USAID contracts providing lifesaving aid, officials tell AP.
Normalize reading the Federalist Papers aloud.
April 1, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Normalize reading the Federalist Papers aloud.
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
Check out my new article for CTC Sentinel: "The New Syrian Government’s Fight Against the Islamic State, Hezbollah, and Captagon" ctc.westpoint.edu/the-new-syri...
The New Syrian Government’s Fight Against the Islamic State, Hezbollah, and Captagon - Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s background as a former branch of the Islamic State and al-Qa`ida has created a perception that it is untrustworthy when it comes to security concerns of the United Sta...
ctc.westpoint.edu
March 28, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Check out my new article for CTC Sentinel: "The New Syrian Government’s Fight Against the Islamic State, Hezbollah, and Captagon" ctc.westpoint.edu/the-new-syri...
Really excellent map work in the mobile version of this feature article.
As tensions rise across a melting, militarizing Arctic, the world’s largest island is back on the map. Now the Danes, too, are concerned.
Greenland is hard to defend. As Trump threatens, the Danes are trying.
“One way or the other,” President Donald Trump told Congress, the United States needs to “get” Greenland, strategically located and rich in rare metals.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Really excellent map work in the mobile version of this feature article.
Updated CRS brief on Yemen: Conflict, Red Sea Attacks, and U.S. Policy - www.congress.gov/crs-product/...
www.congress.gov
March 20, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Updated CRS brief on Yemen: Conflict, Red Sea Attacks, and U.S. Policy - www.congress.gov/crs-product/...
“At least 274 Kenyan workers, mostly women, have died in Saudi Arabia in the past five years… Autopsy reports are vague and contradictory. They describe women with evidence of trauma, including burns and electric shocks, all labeled natural deaths.”
For more than a year, my colleague Justin Scheck and I looked into why domestic workers from across East Africa, who are promised jobs and a better life in Saudi Arabia, continued to face abuse, starvation and death. Here's what we found.
East African Housekeepers Face Rape, Assault and Death in Saudi Arabia (Gift Article)
East African leaders and Saudi royals are among those profiting off a lucrative, deadly trade in domestic workers.
www.nytimes.com
March 19, 2025 at 2:34 AM
“At least 274 Kenyan workers, mostly women, have died in Saudi Arabia in the past five years… Autopsy reports are vague and contradictory. They describe women with evidence of trauma, including burns and electric shocks, all labeled natural deaths.”
Updated CRS report on Transition in Syria and U.S. Policy: crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov
March 11, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Updated CRS report on Transition in Syria and U.S. Policy: crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
To state the obvious re: post-Asad Syria: 1) Asad’s ouster did not resolve Syrians’ political, ideological, and communal differences 2) the trappings of power and well crafted statements mask legitimacy and capacity deficits 3) internal and external actors are still battling to shape Syria’s future.
March 10, 2025 at 11:13 PM
To state the obvious re: post-Asad Syria: 1) Asad’s ouster did not resolve Syrians’ political, ideological, and communal differences 2) the trappings of power and well crafted statements mask legitimacy and capacity deficits 3) internal and external actors are still battling to shape Syria’s future.
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
Writing about current affairs at the moment really feels like aiming at a moving target. By the time you take your shot, it may be long gone over the hill.
March 9, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Writing about current affairs at the moment really feels like aiming at a moving target. By the time you take your shot, it may be long gone over the hill.
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
US Mission to UN Feb 12: Since the territorial defeat of ISIS US assistance has played a vital role in managing and securing Al-Hol and Roj camps in northeast Syria, and critically, SDF-managed facilities detaining thousands of ISIS fighters, but this assistance cannot last forever. 1/
February 13, 2025 at 10:56 AM
US Mission to UN Feb 12: Since the territorial defeat of ISIS US assistance has played a vital role in managing and securing Al-Hol and Roj camps in northeast Syria, and critically, SDF-managed facilities detaining thousands of ISIS fighters, but this assistance cannot last forever. 1/
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
Check out my new article for the
@washinstitute.bsky.social: "The Status of Syria’s Transition After Two Months" washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analy...
@washinstitute.bsky.social: "The Status of Syria’s Transition After Two Months" washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analy...
February 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Check out my new article for the
@washinstitute.bsky.social: "The Status of Syria’s Transition After Two Months" washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analy...
@washinstitute.bsky.social: "The Status of Syria’s Transition After Two Months" washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analy...
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
On the one hand, the world desperately wants Syria to succeed, the war to end, and refugees to return.
On the other hand: "The humanitarian response for Syria is significantly underfunded, having secured less than 10 per cent of the $1.2 billion needed through March."
reliefweb.int/report/syria...
On the other hand: "The humanitarian response for Syria is significantly underfunded, having secured less than 10 per cent of the $1.2 billion needed through March."
reliefweb.int/report/syria...
Syrian Arab Republic: Humanitarian Situation Report No. 1 (As of 12 February 2025) [EN/AR] - Syrian Arab Republic
Situation Report in Arabic on Syrian Arab Republic and 1 other country about Agriculture, Camp Coordination and Camp Management and more; published on 12 Feb 2025 by OCHA
reliefweb.int
February 13, 2025 at 11:07 AM
On the one hand, the world desperately wants Syria to succeed, the war to end, and refugees to return.
On the other hand: "The humanitarian response for Syria is significantly underfunded, having secured less than 10 per cent of the $1.2 billion needed through March."
reliefweb.int/report/syria...
On the other hand: "The humanitarian response for Syria is significantly underfunded, having secured less than 10 per cent of the $1.2 billion needed through March."
reliefweb.int/report/syria...
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
Saudi Arabia launches ferocious state media attack on Netanyahu
www.ft.com/content/be85...
www.ft.com/content/be85...
Saudi Arabia launches ferocious state media attack on Netanyahu
Onslaught points to growing frustration in Gulf state’s royal court with Israeli prime minister and war in Gaza
www.ft.com
February 12, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Saudi Arabia launches ferocious state media attack on Netanyahu
www.ft.com/content/be85...
www.ft.com/content/be85...
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
ETANA brief on drug and arms trafficking across the Syrian-Jordanian border post-December 8: etanasyria.org/brief-arms-d...
BRIEF: Arms & Drug Smuggling in Syria After Assad
While the industrial-scale drug trade of the Bashar al-Assad era is over, cross-border smuggling from Syria has not stopped altogether.
etanasyria.org
February 5, 2025 at 12:30 PM
ETANA brief on drug and arms trafficking across the Syrian-Jordanian border post-December 8: etanasyria.org/brief-arms-d...
Reposted by Chris Blanchard
New report from the UN-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, documenting the Assad regime’s detention centers, the torture and killings that took place there, and the mass graves where bodies were dumped.
www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...
www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...
January 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM
New report from the UN-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, documenting the Assad regime’s detention centers, the torture and killings that took place there, and the mass graves where bodies were dumped.
www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...
www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...
New from CRS - Yemen: Terrorism Designation, U.S. Policy, and Congress crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov
January 27, 2025 at 7:26 PM
New from CRS - Yemen: Terrorism Designation, U.S. Policy, and Congress crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
New CRS Insight - Syria: Regime Change, Transition, and U.S. Policy
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov
December 9, 2024 at 8:32 PM
New CRS Insight - Syria: Regime Change, Transition, and U.S. Policy
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
Updated as of 12/5.
New CRS Insight on conflict resurgence in Syria and pending legislative issues.
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov
December 5, 2024 at 10:04 PM
Updated as of 12/5.
New CRS Insight on conflict resurgence in Syria and pending legislative issues.
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov
December 5, 2024 at 12:59 AM
New CRS Insight on conflict resurgence in Syria and pending legislative issues.
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...
Excellent analysis here.
Check out my new article at @WarOnTheRocks: “The Patient Efforts Behind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Success In Aleppo” warontherocks.com/2024/12/the-...
The Patient Efforts Behind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Success in Aleppo - War on the Rocks
“God willing,” the militant told his lieutenants, they would “be able to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in Aleppo and Damascus soon.” That militant was Abu
warontherocks.com
December 5, 2024 at 12:58 AM
Excellent analysis here.
Informative two days at @chathamhouse.bsky.social Iraq Initiative conference. Iraqi leaders seek to preserve Iraq’s insulation from regional conflict, with elections looming. Important decisions ahead for U.S., Iraqi, Iranian, and Israeli leaders.
November 20, 2024 at 11:03 PM
Informative two days at @chathamhouse.bsky.social Iraq Initiative conference. Iraqi leaders seek to preserve Iraq’s insulation from regional conflict, with elections looming. Important decisions ahead for U.S., Iraqi, Iranian, and Israeli leaders.