THE HEZBOLLAH WILD CARD IN THE CONFLICT IN GAZA Andrew McGregor The ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza have benefitted from the knowledge that Israel’s northern border with Lebanon is not being threatened by the Shi’a Hezbollah movement of Lebanon, the senior partner in the... MORE

HOUTHIS BATTLE ARMY AND TRIBAL MILITIAS FOR CONTROL OF YEMEN’S AMRAN GOVERNORATE Andrew McGregor At the conclusion of a three-day battle, experienced Houthist fighters stormed the ancient Yemeni walled city of Amran on July 8, killing some 200 people in the process and displacing at... MORE

EGYPT’S DOMESTIC SECURITY THREAT: AJNAD MISR AND THE “RETRIBUTION FOR LIFE” CAMPAIGN Andrew McGregor A Cairo-based extremist group using the name Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) has intensified its bombing campaign in the Egyptian capital with a surprising attack on the Ittihadiya Palace in Heliopolis,... MORE

WILL ISIS SPUR NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS FOR SAUDI ARABIA? Andrew McGregor In some ways, the recent triumphs of the radical Sunni Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) inside Iraq have alarmed Riyadh as much as Tehran. While the Saudis are still willing to support... MORE

IRAQI COUNTER-INSURGENCY TACTICS UNDER FIRE Andrew McGregor Ineffective military tactics may have caused more damage to relations between the Iraqi National Army (INA) and the disaffected Sunni population of northwestern Iraq than to the targeted Islamist militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria... MORE

ATTACK ON CHINESE COMPANY IN CAMEROON DRAGS YAOUNDÉ INTO CAMPAIGN AGAINST BOKO HARAM Andrew McGregor An assault on a Chinese road-building camp in northern Cameroon is the latest in a series of regional attacks on Chinese workers and facilities. The camp with 52 staff was... MORE

CRISIS IN SOUTH SUDAN PART ONE:  SHAKE-UP IN MILITARY LEADERSHIP REFLECTS TRIBAL CRISIS Andrew McGregor As the security situation in the Sudan continues to deteriorate, Government of South Sudan (GoSS) president Salva Kiir Mayardit has overhauled the nation’s military leadership with a pair of controversial... MORE

LIBYA PURCHASES BLOODLESS RETURN OF ITS EASTERN OIL FACILITIES In a move that may help restore revenues to a desperate national government in Tripoli, Libya’s ruling General National Council (GNC) has come to a costly agreement with eastern Libyan gunmen that will enable the resumption... MORE