The Libyan Conflict and the Moroccan-Algerian Arms Race Brian M. Perkins Algeria and Morocco have long been in competition for diplomatic and military supremacy in the Maghreb and have intermittently faced off in the conflict over Western Sahara. Algeria has been the region’s preeminent military... MORE

Saudi Arabia’s military adventurism in Yemen has been nothing short of disastrous. As political and economic woes are beginning to hit home, the kingdom is struggling to maintain its resolve and cajole warring parties in southern Yemen toward some kind of peace deal. Conflict between... MORE

Moscow plans to increase its military basing presence in Syria, building on its main existing agreements with the Bashar al-Assad regime in relation to the Khmeimim airbase in Latakia province and the naval logistical facility in Tartus. While these facilities will also be expanded, on... MORE

Tariq Saleh, the nephew of former Yemeni President Ali Abdulla Saleh, is a proverbial wild card in Yemen’s interconnected wars. The former commander of Yemen’s now defunct Presidential Guard controls one of the best organized and best armed militias in Yemen, known as the National... MORE

Introduction Analyzing Aguila Saleh Issa al-Obeidi’s life and career, the peculiarity of his profile compared to that of the many current protagonists of Libyan politics is striking. He is by no means a classic militant leader. He has 50 years of experience in legal issues,... MORE

Western analysts tend to focus on the Iranian navy almost exclusively in terms of its ability to harass or block oil tankers coming through the Strait of Hormuz, an understandable perspective given the danger that Iran could disorder world oil markets if it was successful... MORE

In the last few weeks, Russia has been too busy with the domestic explosion of COVID-19 cases to properly attend to foreign policy matters; but the lack of interest in Moscow to the session of the Chinese National People’s Congress, which opened in Beijing last... MORE

On May 13, Russian special forces launched a search operation across the Assa River, in Ingushetia’s Sunzhensky district, which borders Chechnya. The authorities warned local villagers not to visit the area. The security forces were combing the forest for a group of militants led by... MORE

Isolationist Turkmenistan, which proudly claims to be COVID-19-free, has nonetheless been affected by the pandemic (Izvestia, May 10). A recent closure of its borders due to pandemic concerns has halted imports, reportedly leading to food shortages. The provincial situation became so dire before the borders... MORE

On April 16, Saudi security forces admitted that they shot and killed Abdul Rahim al-Howeiti, an outspoken critic of Muhammad bin Salman’s plan to build a new megacity called Neom (Middle East Monitor, April 17). Neom is a pet project of Muhammad bin Salman, Saudi... MORE