Kurdish endurance and success in the fight against ISIS terrorism in Iraq and Syria is putting the U.S., an old ally of the stateless Kurds in the Middle East, in a pickle. Moscow’s influence in the region and the Kurdish desire for self governance could pivot the alliance from the U.S. toward Russia. It could also give Moscow a permanent lever in Syrian domestic politics and a lever against Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sputnik reports: “The Russian government says it has sent troops to fight alongside Kurdish units in northwestern Syria and is providing weapons to Iraqi Kurds in a tactic that could upstage a long-standing US alliance with the stateless ethnic group and increase Moscow’s influence in the region,” according to The Wall Street Journal. In Syria, the US relies on Kurdish fighters, an umbrella group, known as the People’s Defense Units, or YPG, as one of its most effective allies in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State), much to the irritation of Turkey, which sees the YPG as a threat for its close ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it alongside with the US and EU considers a terrorist organization. A particular US concern is Russia’s [...]