The joint announcement acknowledges the trade's negative impact on the security, health, and political landscape of the region

There is widespread concern that the US has ultimately gotten what it needs from the SDF following the defeat of IS and will, therefore, prioritise its alliance with Turkey — a Nato member.

Concerns are mounting about growing threats posed by transnational terrorist groups across several regions in Africa

Both states share a common interest in securing the continued flow of goods to and from their markets, but each country's approach differs in line with their respective national priorities

Russia's Maritime Doctrine signed by Putin in July 2022 identified American dominance in the world's oceans as a threat to its national security

When Fatah became a ruling party it stopped being a revolutionary faction and became a bureaucratic group representing the dominant class

Tatars have long suffered persecution including the mass deportation of hundreds of thousands under USSR leader Joseph Stalin

A close up view of the reaction to - and effect of - Turkey's double earthquake in February 2023, near the Syrian border

Its strategic location at the entrance to the Bab al-Mandab Strait has incentivised various countries to establish military bases in the small African nation

Three factors that limit optimism over the deal are Iran's radicals, China's unwillingness to play a more significant security role in the region and Israel's fear over Iran's nuclear programme