The [U.S.] troop withdrawal from Iraq raises questions about the future of armed factions in the country and a regional security order that has yet to take shape.
[W]hat the Switzerland negotiations ultimately lead to may help determine who the next U.S. president will be, as much as they will define the rules of the game in the Middle East.
[W]hen ethics are abandoned for epics, and when political power subverts rational military decision-making, it is not surprising that symptoms of strategic fatigue begin to develop.