A weak ISIS and a weak U.S. strategy: wapo.st/1H5LE4i http://t.co/3IpQclcSvg—
Post Graphics (@PostGraphics) July 07, 2015
The current state of play in Syria
08 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in defence economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Middle-East politics, Syria, war against terror
The war situation in Iraq and Syria
10 May 2015 Leave a comment
ISW Iraq SITREP. Baiji-Repeat of Tikrit w/ roles of Iranian militias vs. Coalition airstrikes?
iswiraq.blogspot.com/2015/05/iraq-s… http://t.co/QLwhV0lkhS—
ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 09, 2015
ISW Syria SITREP is out. Did Hezbollah decide to not engage JN or is "Qalamoun battle coming"? bit.ly/1JOMZ4R http://t.co/eb3zIQuhwU—
ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 05, 2015
HT: Lorenzo M Warby
Current areas of control in the Syrian Civil War
27 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in war and peace Tags: Syria
There Is No Global Jihadist ‘Movement’ — Atlantic Mobile
13 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
Some nice charts about how ISIS is more a rabble that happens to survive because of the lack of unity among its many enemies which include the Iraqi government government and its army that runaway.
Environmental and Urban Economics: The Drought Causes War Hypothesis: Evidence from Syria
09 Mar 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Syria, water markets
I am an economist so permit me to make one Econ 101 point.
As drought conditions unfolded in Syria, did water prices rise? Is water metered and paid for in Syria? How do farmers and residential water customers access water?
If there had been a market signal of increased scarcity, water prices would have gone up and rational households and firms would reduce their consumption.
In the presence of such well functioning water markets, no “excess conflict” would have resulted. Capitalist markets thus can diffuse violence as increasingly scarce resources are allocated efficiently and water consumers are incentivized to invest in strategies and actions to reduce their water demand.
So, to repeat my point; if the PNAS authors are correct then it is the synergistic effect between increased drought conditions and the absence of water markets that caused the problem. If the nation had well functioning water markets, then I would strongly predict that there would be no extra violence.
via Environmental and Urban Economics: The Drought Causes War Hypothesis: Evidence from Syria.
Foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq
03 Feb 2015 Leave a comment
Sweden has offered permanent residence to all Syrians fleeing the conflict
06 Dec 2014 1 Comment
in Economics of international refugee law, war and peace Tags: refugees, Sweden, Syria
Asylum applications to Sweden
2012: 44,000
2013: 55,000
2014: 83,000 (projected)
2015: 95,000 (projected)
The population of Sweden is about twice that New Zealand and a million more. The population of Syria is almost 23,000,000.
Nearly half of Syria’s population has been displaced since the start of the civil war in 2011. Half. It’s the equivalent of 135 million Americans being forced to move.
I admire Sweden’s generosity, but not their wisdom. Three million Syrians have become refugees abroad and 6.5 million more have fled their homes for other locations within the country.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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