Latest Articles about Middle East
Uzbekistan Seeks to Reinvigorate Its Diplomatic Clout in the Region (Part One)
Tashkent’s recent diplomatic efforts to serve and actively pursue its vital national interests may best be described by the mantra “a strategy is always square, but tactics are always round.” The attendance of the president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, at the most recent summit of... MORE
Iran Courts Kazakhstan to Reengage With Central Asia
On September 9, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani paid his first official visit to Kazakhstan since taking office last August, when he succeeded the much abrasive Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This visit took place against the backdrop of a new round of direct talks between Tehran and the... MORE
Rising through the Ranks: A Portrait of Jabhat al-Nusra’s Abu Malik al-Shami
Abu Malik al-Shami (a.k.a. Abu Malik al-Tala) is the commander of al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (JN – Victory Front) in Syria’s mountainous Qalamoun region on the Syrian-Lebanese border west of Damascus. Al-Shami’s faction of JN has become one of the most powerful armed opposition factions... MORE
Abu Muhammad al-Adnani: The Syrian Face of ‘Islamic State’
One of the major pieces of advice that jihadist ideologues have been giving their followers in the new areas where they are operating is to make local members leaders in order to reassure their local hosts and convince them to adopt their jihadist ideology. Abu... MORE
Fugitive Egyptian Militant Faisal Suliman Salma al-Mahsna Killed in Raid
In July, Egyptian security forces raided the house of Faisal Suliman Salma al-Mahsna, a leading jihadist, after failing to find him for eight months. Al-Mahsna, 38, was shot to death at his house in Ismaliya province after a 30-minute exchange of fire with police. He... MORE
Kurdish Stronghold in Eastern Syria Defies Assaults by Islamic State
On September 15, the Islamic State, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), launched a fourth siege on the Syrian city of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic), capturing dozens of villages (International Business Times, September 22, 2014). The strategic location of... MORE
Iranian Rail Links and the Geopolitics of the South Caucasus
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are seeking to link their national railways with those of Iran, something that could be an economic lifesaver for Yerevan and an additional outlet for Baku’s exports of Caspian oil and gas. At present, Azerbaijan has the advantage because it does... MORE
Turkmenistan Becoming Regional Railway Hub
Buoyed by its rising hydrocarbon revenues, Turkmenistan is using some of that income to reduce its geographical isolation by upgrading and expanding its railway network while linking it to those of its neighbors. The most recent development is an Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railroad, scheduled to be inaugurated... MORE
Shared Concerns Over Salafi Extremism Steer Iran and Tajikistan Into Security Agreement
On September 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) annual summit (Ozodi, September 11). On the sidelines of the summit, Rouhani took advantage of his first trip to the small Central Asian republic to ink ten... MORE
Chechen Fighters Make Waves in Syria
Chechens have been quite active in the ranks of the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the past two to three years. Chechens have formed several groups that made waves in a country that is alien to them, both culturally and linguistically, as... MORE