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Rao Komar is a Middle East and Eurasia analyst, focusing on conflicts, insurgencies, and instability. He is a contributor to Bellingcat, a research collective that investigates conflicts worldwide using open-source analysis and digital forensics. He has written for a variety of publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, War on the Rocks, World Politics Review, and more.
His research has been cited by a variety of domestic and international news outlets and research institutions. He speaks Arabic and is currently learning Russian. @RaoKomar747 on Twitter.
The Danger of Conflict Between the Syrian Regime and Y.P.G.
Both the Trump and Obama administrations have made defeating ISIS the United State’s number one priority in the Middle East. In Syria, this focus led the United States to support the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (Y.P.G.) against ISIS. One of the major contributing factors behind this decision was that the Y.P.G. was not actively hostile to the Syrian regime, unlike the Syrian opposition. U.S. support for the Y.P.G.
