![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-middle-east.jpg)
Latest Articles about Middle East
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ks.jpg)
Obama Administration Undercutting Ukraine’s Position in the Minsk Armistice Negotiations
Urged by US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland in Kyiv last week, Ukraine took a first step toward legalizing the secessionist authorities in the country’s constitution (see EDM, July 20). Concurrently, US Vice President Joseph Biden asked Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to accept local... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/French_police_conducting_an_anti-terrorism_operation_in_Lunel_where_a_significant_number_of_individuals_have_left_for_jihad_in_Iraq_and_Syria_Source_France24.jpg)
The French Jihadist ‘Foreign Legion’ in Syria and Iraq
It is probable that before the end of 2015, more than 1,000 French residents or nationals will have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join one of the various armed groups active in the two countries. This mobilization dwarfs all prior French jihadist travel to... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Cheng_Jingye__Chinese_ambassador_to_the_IAEA_served_as_China_s_representative_at_the_nuclear_talks.jpg)
A Nuclear Deal with Chinese Characteristics: China’s Role in the P5+1 Talks with Iran
Like many in the international community, Beijing welcomed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed on July 14 between the members of the P5+1 group (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia plus Germany) and Iran (Xinhua, July 14). As a new... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/gasfield.jpg)
Turkmenistan Complains Gazprom Is Not Paying Its Bills
On July 8, Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Oil and Gas noted that Russian state natural gas company Gazprom had failed to pay for imports since the beginning of the year, stating, “The Russian company OAO Gazprom has failed to pay under its contracts for buying and... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Alexis_Tsipras_and_Vladimir_Putin_-_EDM_July_14__2015.jpg)
Greek Agreement and Iranian Deal Leave Russia Disappointed and Irrelevant
It was a rare coincidence in world politics that two pivotal and protracted negotiation processes—the European Union’s talks with Greece on managing its debt, and the “P5+1” talks on managing the Iranian nuclear program—both culminated in crucial agreements at the start of this week (July... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/salahuddin-shishani.jpg)
Chechen Ousted as Amir of Jaish al-Muhadjireen wal-Ansar Rebel Group in Syria
In April, a sharia court decreed that a range of orders issued by Amir Salakhuddin Shishani (Feyzulla Margoshvili), the long-time leader of the Jaish al-Muhadjireen wal-Ansar (JMA), were in breach of sharia norms. JMA is an insurgent group fighting the Syrian regime made up mainly... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Map_of_Yemen_s_Hadramawt.jpg)
The Hadramawt: AQAP and the Battle for Yemen’s Wealthiest Governorate
More than three months of intense aerial bombardment by Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have left much of Yemen in ruins. Few places in the country are not experiencing the effects of the air campaign, civil war and the deprivations caused by the coalition’s... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Islamic_State_-_EDM_June_30__2015.jpeg)
Moscow Appears to Be Playing a Most Dangerous Game With the Islamic State
In the wake of terrorist attacks by the Islamic State (IS) across the Middle East and Europe, Russian diplomats and the Kremlin-controlled media have been working overtime to suggest that the West will not be able to contain IS unless it secures Moscow’s cooperation. And... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Ahlam_al-Nasr_s_poetry_Source_Vetogate.jpg)
Ahlam al-Nasr: Islamic State’s Jihadist Poetess
Finally, God granted me al-samaha [allowance to enter the caliphate land], Oh, my comrade, I’ve shook hands with arms I’ve lived [in] the caliphate and its excellencies (al-Quds al-Arabi, October 14, 2014) With these lines, Syrian revolutionary poetess turned Islamic State propagandist Ahlam al-Nasr announced... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Abu_Ridha_al-Turkestani_in_a_recent_video.jpg)
Abu Ridha al-Turkistani: A Post-Mortem Analysis of the Turkistan Islamic Party’s First Apparently Non-Uyghur Leader
Abu Ridha al-Turkistani was the leader of the “Syria Branch” of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP)—the first TIP leader ever to hold that position. He died under as murky circumstances and with as little fanfare as he arrived. There is very little information on where... MORE