The nearly five dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles that the United States fired on Friday night (April 7) at the Syrian Al-Shayrat airbase produced far more political resonance than kinetic impact. Nonetheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin found himself on the receiving end of the shockwave. He... MORE

Turkey’s National Security Council announced the end of Operation Euphrates Shield on March 27, an unexpected move considering the many official statements that it was to be extended to Turkey’s next target, the People’s Protection Units (YPG)-held Syrian city of Manbij (CNNTürk, March 27). The... MORE

The threat of Islamist militancy to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been nearly continuous, in various manifestations, since the mid-1990s, with Islamic State (IS) only the latest iteration of this threat. The group’s Saudi Arabian affiliates are formed by regional and domestic networks made... MORE

With the sharpened U.S. focus on combating global terrorism, closer knowledge of al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) — and, crucially, its leadership — is becoming increasingly more important. Before the U.S raid in Yemen in February 2017, which according to... MORE

“I appreciate that Georgia has [a governmental] agency that directly works on religious affairs and with religions. I am very pleased that thanks to the efforts of Georgian government representatives, different religions and ethnic groups peacefully coexist here. That is exactly how it is also... MORE

As Syria’s civil war enters its sixth year, the balance of the conflict has tilted toward Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Baathist regime. Bolstered by its international and regional allies, the regime is touting numerous territorial gains — including the reassertion of its authority over eastern... MORE

Mali: al-Qaeda Alliance a Warning to Islamic State An attack on a Malian military base in Boulikessi that left 11 soldiers dead has been claimed by the newly formed jihadist alliance Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, led by the Ansar Dine chief Iyad Ag Ghali.... MORE

Conditions in Yemen appear to be ideal for the expansion of an insurgent organization like Islamic State (IS). All the normal vectors for the spread of the virus of militant Salafism are present: grinding poverty; rampant youth unemployment; a weak and most often non-existent government;... MORE

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Moscow, on March 10, unsurprisingly generated a great deal of attention (Hürriyet, March 10). Indeed the bilateral Turkish-Russian relationship has been a game changer in Syria for some time. And the timing of the visit notably followed the... MORE

As the Syrian civil war enters its seventh year (the conflict officially started on March 15, 2011, with mainly peaceful protesters in Damascus coming out into the streets to demand democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners), a potential peace deal remains out of... MORE