Latest Articles about Middle East
From Theory to Action: The Rationale behind the Re-establishment of the Caliphate
According to most public analysis, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or its latest iteration as the Islamic State (IS), is a serious regional threat but not yet a direct threat to the United States on the order of 9/11. [1] Reforms instituted... MORE
A Marriage of Convenience: The Many Faces of Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) may have stolen the limelight, but the current Sunni insurgency in Iraq is dominated by a number of Sunni groups, with ISIS forming possibly less than a third of rebel forces. Each group has its own reason... MORE
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Iraq’s Security Breakdown
As the assault of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in northern Iraq increasingly enhances the prospect of Iraq’s disintegration, Iran has responded aggressively by adopting a policy of direct engagement with its neighbor (Press TV [Tehran], June 12; Fars News [Tehran], June... MORE
Oil Fuels the Kurdistan-ISIS Conflict
The realities of today’s politics depend heavily on earlier historical decisions, specifically in the Middle East. Therefore, we cannot understand today’s Iraq unless we go back to the disintegration of the Ottoman empire in the days following World War I. Iraq is the center of... MORE
Dead or Alive – Sinai’s Most Wanted: Shadi al-Manei
Egyptian security officials claimed that Shadi al-Manei, a leader of the Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, was killed in an ambush set by tribesmen in Sinai on May 22 (al-Ahram, May 24). According to the police investigation, 15 men in vehicles and armed with... MORE
June 2014 Briefs
ISIS’ NEMESIS IN ALEPPO: KHALID HAYANI AND ITIHAD LIWA SHUHADA BADR Nicholas A. Heras In spite of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) success in Iraq, it is worth remembering that it is battling against a number of armed groups in Syria, not... MORE
The Tribal Component of Iraq’s Sunni Rebellion: The General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries
Following the Iraqi armed opposition’s seizure of Mosul on June 10 and the subsequent capture of large areas of Ninewah, Salah al-Din and Ta’mim governorates from the Nuri al-Maliki government, several Iraqi organizations have proclaimed their role in the fighting. Emerging as one of the... MORE
Hot Issue: Iraqi Kurdistan’s New Security Challenges
Executive Summary The recent advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and collapse of a quarter the Iraqi Army has created both opportunities and threats for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). With Baghdad occupied by the crisis, the KRG has been able... MORE
Will Crimean Tatar Jihadists Join Forces With the Caucasus Emirate?
As the Crimean Tatars commemorated the 70th anniversary of their deportation from Crimea on May 18, many wondered what the Tatars’ next moves under the Russian occupation will be. Having already deported ethnic groups en masse—the Karachays in November 1943, the Chechens and Ingush in... MORE
Iraqi Shi’a Militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq Expands Operations to Syria
A suicide bombing struck an election rally in Baghdad that was being held by the Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi’a militia group and political party Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH - League of the Righteous) on April 26, killing 37 people (al-Jazeera, April 25; for AAH, see Terrorism... MORE