Episode Notes:

Turkey and Israel are pursuing clashing strategies in the Middle East, Ali Murat Kursun argues in War on the Rocks. Kerry talks with Ali about how the fall of the Assad regime removed a crucial buffer between the two countries. They discuss how Israel’s interest in a weak, fragmented Syria cuts against Turkey’s push for a functioning government in Damascus, and how competing claims in the Eastern Mediterranean compound the risk of confrontation. Ali also outlines what international actors could do to de-escalate before those tensions harden.

Image: Italian Navy via Wikimedia Commons