Latest Articles about Iraq
The Kurdish Periphery
The Kurds play a key role in the war against the Islamic State as they are located on the periphery of the jihadist organization’s two de-facto capitals, Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. As a result, both Western states and Russia are courting the... MORE
The Islamic State Strikes Again in France: A Tale of Two Omars
The November 13, 2015 attacks in France were the deadliest in Europe committed by the jihadist movement since the Madrid attacks in March 2004. The attacks, claimed by the Islamic State in a statement and a video, are still in the very early stages of... MORE
Islamic State’s Sri Lankan Outreach
In recent months, there has been growing evidence of actual and attempted outreach by the Islamic State into Sri Lanka, presently struggling to recover from a three-decade long conflict between its Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups. One of the most significant developments was the news... MORE
Hot Issue: How DAESH’s Lone Wolf Guidance Increases the Group’s Threat to the United States
Executive Summary On October 18, 2015, a DAESH promoter posted a 63-page English-language manual entitled Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen on Twitter. [1] Reportedly, three former members of Saddam Hussein’s intelligence service now with this jihadist organization in Raqqa, Syria, produced the... MORE
Umm Adam: The Architect Behind the Islamic State’s Matchmaking Network
Fatiha Mohamed Taher Housni al-Mejjati (a.k.a. Umm Adam), is a member of the Islamic State’s media committee and therefore one of the most powerful women in the organization (The Africa Channel, January 15). Wearing black from head to toe with a strong, bulky physique and... MORE
A Portrait of the Islamic State’s British Propagandist Ifthekar Jaman
Since the start of the Syrian civil war, British police estimate that at least 700 British Muslims are believed to have traveled to that country to fight for various jihadist groups (BBC, September 18). Few have so far achieved significant leadership positions or any enduring... MORE
The Kurdish Predicament in Syria: Balancing Russia, Turkey and the United States
Russia, on September 30, launched airstrikes in support of the Syrian government in order to stop the advance of the Turkish and Saudi-backed Islamist Sunni rebel group Jaysh al-Fatah (“Army of Conquest”) into the country’s coastal Alawite Shi’a heartlands (NowLebanon, August 27). Meanwhile, the United... MORE
Riyaan Saalim Sadeq al-Kaldani: The Pro-Iran Iraqi Christian Militia Leader
In the wake of the Islamic State’s June 2014 takeover of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, the Iraqi government created al-Hashd al-Sha’bi (Popular Mobilization Committees—PMCs), a militia network to help counter the jihadist organization. Though dominated by Shi’a armed groups, several militias within the network are... MORE
As Moscow’s Military Involvement in Syria Receives More Attention, Its Officials Focus on Russians Fighting Against al-Assad
The Russian media ramped up coverage of Syria after reports emerged that the Russian military is actively taking part in the conflict on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. To distract Russian citizens from domestic issues and justify intervention in the conflict, the authorities... MORE
The Islamic State’s Uneven Trajectory in Libya
As the Islamic State sought to expand geographically in the months following the declaration of the caliphate in June 2014, Libya initially appeared to be the organization’s most promising frontier outside of Syria and Iraq. Libya’s civil conflict—which has pitted the Libya Dawn military coalition,... MORE