Norvell B. DeAtkine, Author at Lima Charlie World

The Art of Foreign Influence: The Russian Military Adviser

History’s superpowers have long employed military advisers around the world as extensions of a country’s power and influence. Russia has a wealth of experience when it comes to optimizing and maximizing the use of advisers. A prime example is the advisory operations of the former… Keep Reading

Image The Alevis Dilemma [Lima Charlie News]

The Alevis Dilemma – Turkey’s Erdogan sets a religious minority on a collision course with Erdogan’s Turkey

A significant religious minority in Turkey, the Alevis, have become increasingly subject to President Erdogan’s populist ire, as they find themselves on a collision course with the Islamification and ‘Turkification’ of Turkey. When I visited Antalya, Turkey, in the late 1990s, I was surprised by… Keep Reading

Vietnam to Iraq – America’s Lessons Never Learned

Vietnam Veteran and Middle East scholar, U.S. Colonel Norvell DeAtkine reflects on the U.S. government’s recent report, The U.S. Army in the Iraq War, the longest and most detailed study of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Iraq conflict thus far. “We have а professional and… Keep Reading

The Fears of Iran and its Forgotten Kurds

In the West much is heard about the struggles of the Kurdish peoples of Iraq and Turkey. Yet, little is heard about the Kurds of Iran. To most Iranians, Kurds are simply a non-people. Any mention of Kurdish symbols, such as the sun logo of… Keep Reading

Arabs and Kurds – Why can’t they just get along?

U.S. Army Colonel Norvell DeAtkine examines the age old clash between Arabs and Kurds. The young Kurdish interpreter for American troops pointed to a tattered Iraqi flag flying over a small government building. He told me with bitterness in his voice that just seeing that… Keep Reading

The Arabs – a “Manufactured” People?

OPINION: Establishing a grand Arab peacekeeping force is a seductive idea. An “Arab NATO” consisting of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan has been proposed. As the thinking goes, Arabs understand one another, speak the same tongue, and all abhor the… Keep Reading