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Profs & Pints: Turkey, Syria, and Kurds in Crisis

(Note special matinee time.)

Profs and Pints presents: Turkey, Syria, and Kurds in Crisis, a look at political players in that region and the allies the United States left behind, with Dr. Lisel Hintz, assistant professor of international relations and European studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and expert on politics in Turkey and Kurdish regions.

President Trump shocked many in the foreign-policy realmincluding some of his own Republican allieswith his bizarre recent decision to acquiesce to suggestions by President Erdoan that he withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria. The result was an immediate Turkish invasion of the region and substantial bloodshed among the northern Syrian Kurds who had been staunch allies of the U.S. in its fight against ISIS, and now continue to find themselves in Turkish and Russian crosshairs.

Come to a timely talk that will provides insight into the puzzling decision-making dynamics on the Syrian conflict from both the US and Turkish government perspectives. Youll learn how Turkey's recent incursion into Syria is a much more than a foreign policy choice, with domestic political concerns playing a powerful role in motivating the actions of Trump and Erdogan. Youll also become familiar with how Russian President Vladimir Putin factors into US loss of leverage in the region.

Dr. Hintz will outline the rapid unraveling of the US foreign policy decision-making process on Syria and examine Turkeys assertions that the US's Kurdish allies are part of a terrorist network carrying out violent attacks on Turkish soil. She'll also discuss Ankara's plans to relocate some of the nearly 4 million Syrians in Turkey into the safe zone Erdoan negotiated first with the US and then with Russia. Finally, shell look at how Turkey's Syrian campaign and the nationalist sentiment it rallied may have hindered attempts by Turkey's opposition to unite with Kurds against Erdoan.

Youll emerge with solid understanding of a complex and rapidly changing political situation, and a much better basis for evaluating US actions in that region. (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15. Save $2 with student ID. Time listed is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please arrive in plenty of time to place any order and be seated and settled before the talk begins.)