The execution of Saddam Hussein on December 30, 2006, led to the cleaving of his Ba’ath party over the question of succession. At that time, the party which had ruled Iraq for 35 years and had hundreds of thousands in its membership was significantly degraded.... MORE

In the mid-1990s, Saudi authorities clamped down on the relatively centrist Islamist opposition led by two prominent shaykhs at the helm of the al-Sahwa (awakening) movement named Salman al-Ouda and Safar al-Hawali. The crackdown on al-Ouda and al-Hawali resulted in a gap in the religious... MORE

China’s naval presence on the global stage is expanding. While counter-piracy and escort operations in the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea have significantly contributed to the Chinese navy's growing profile, foreign port visits by its naval vessels to the Gulf region are emerging as... MORE

The Saudi leader of a Lebanese militant group has urged Sunni Muslims to refuse cooperation with institutions of the Lebanese state, which he claims are infiltrated and dominated by the Shiite Hezbollah movement. The criticism of Lebanon’s security structure was contained in a November 24... MORE

Turkey’s recent humanitarian aid to Israel renewed the debate on how to normalize Turkish-Israeli relations, which have been in limbo since the flotilla incident in May 2010. Turkey has argued that Israel should acknowledge full responsibility for its raid on the humanitarian aid flotilla, which... MORE

The Caspian littoral states have pledged to resolve their differences in 2011, but they still appear to remain divided on a variety of sensitive issues. Caspian summits will become an annual event, Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, announced on November 18 in Baku. “We decided to... MORE

Following the discovery of explosive-laden packages addressed to synagogues in Chicago, renewed attention has focused on al-Qaeda’s highly innovative branch in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The two packages, each containing an odorless plastic explosive called pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), were... MORE

Gunmen from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) took hostages in a Syriac Catholic church in central Baghdad on October 31. About 52 people were killed and 67 injured after Iraqi security forces stormed the church. The ISI claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking and... MORE

Salafi-Jihadist ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki has penned an emotive response to a declaration by Islamic scholars who challenge the theological basis for the violent jihad of al-Qaeda and its associates. In a lengthy essay published in the second issue of the English-language Jihadist magazine Inspire, al-Awlaki... MORE

The Kremlin suspended the planned delivery of the S-300 PMU-2 long-range surface-to-air missile system and other military technologies to Iran on September 22 in compliance with the fourth round of UN-led sanctions against Tehran’s controversial nuclear program (al-Jazeera, September 22; Press TV, September 22). The... MORE