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Latest Articles about Middle East
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Turkey in Game of Chicken with Syria
Turkey-Syria relations have entered a new stage after Syrian forces shot down a Turkish F-4 fighter jet on June 22 in international waters over the Mediterranean Sea. Syria claimed that the Turkish jet violated Syrian airspace, but Turkey protested that its aircraft was in Syrian... MORE
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Preparing for a Post-Assad Middle East: Hezbollah’s Syrian Dilemma
In the spring of 2011, everything seemed to be going right for Hezbollah (“the Party of God”) in Lebanon. Five years after the war with Israel, its forces in the south of the country were not only reorganized, but also reinforced. In Beirut, the new... MORE
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Proposed Saudi Arabia-Bahrain Union Reflects Intensifying Persian Gulf Rivalry
In the new Middle East, formerly suppressed political parties, movements, and ideas are increasingly shaping a political and ideological discourse that departs from previous paradigms. An equally important trend that is receiving less attention, however, is the mobilization of counterrevolutionary and reactionary forces opposed to... MORE
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Turkey Revises Its Policy Toward Syria
Since the start of the crisis, Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Syria. In February, the international community introduced the Annan Plan to bring the Syrian government and opposition together to the negotiating table. However, the failing Annan Plan has underlined... MORE
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Ambitious Iranian-Tajik Projects Face Problems of Geography and Sanctions
Last week, Tajikistan and Iran concluded the ninth meeting of the Joint Economic Commission in Tehran. The two countries signed five agreements in the hydro-electric, oil and health sectors (Ozodi, May 29). The issues of water and hydro-electricity featured prominently in the discussions, including agreements... MORE
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Syrian Tribal Networks and their Implications for the Syrian Uprising
Sunni Arab tribalism has a significant socio-cultural, political, and security impact on the current uprising in Syria, with strong implications for post-Assad governance formation. Tribalism has fueled unrest throughout Syria, including in places such as Dera’a, where mass opposition demonstrations began on March 15, 2011,... MORE
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Thirtieth Anniversary of Sinai’s Liberation Marked by Libyan Arms, Bedouin Militancy and a Growing Rift with Israel
Though Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has just marked its 30th anniversary of liberation from Israeli occupation, the region is perhaps less integrated with the rest of the Egyptian state now than at any time since the Camp David Accords returned sovereignty of the Sinai to Cairo. An... MORE
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Syrian Kurds Play the Russia Card in Pursuit of Autonomy
The ongoing political and security crisis in Syria has provided unexpected opportunities for Syria’s Kurdish community to initiate diplomatic discussions with Russia, China and Iran in its pursuit of regional autonomy, a near impossibility under the Assad regime before the outbreak of political violence as... MORE
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Hot Issue — The Ansar al-Shari’a Insurgency in Southern Yemen: The View from the Ground
Executive Summary In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) newly-formed subsidiary Ansar al-Shari’a quietly captured the southern Yemeni town of Jaar, while popular protests engulfed President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s splintering government and military in Sana’a. By the time Saleh’s replacement, Vice President Abd... MORE