Executive Summary Kyrgyzstan recently finished repatriating women and children who were detained in Syria and Iraq for having been connected with men who fought with al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS). This has been hailed as the end to Central Asia's struggle with large-scale jihadism, but... MORE

Executive Summary Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) conducted two massive bombings at Qassem Soleimani’s grave on January 3, killing over 90 people and injuring 300 others. The attack was the deadliest terrorist incident in Iran since 1979. Iran and its proxies retaliated against many... MORE

Executive Summary: The US airstrike targeting terrorist bases in Iraq and Syria challenges Russia's Middle East dominance, prompting Moscow to reassess its strategic ties, especially with Israel. Moscow's unequivocal pro-Palestinian stance overlooks regional dynamics, alienating key players like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who oppose Hamas.... MORE

Months after she was kidnapped in Baghdad, Russian-Israeli researcher and activist Elizabeth Tsurkov appeared in a video released on Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militias’ media platforms. In the video she spoke in Hebrew and stated she was an agent of both the US’s Central Intelligence Agency... MORE

The Kremlin has welcomed the Israel-Hamas truce in Gaza that began on November 24. The pause, however, does not fit into Russia’s larger designs for the Middle East. From Moscow's perspective, further escalation would have been a much better option in disrupting the US-led world... MORE

Executive Summary Along with their clear internal (domestic) needs, Chinese private security companies (PSCs) have been spotted operating in virtually all major regions around the world. These entities currently play a marginal role in the promotion and protection of Chinese interests abroad, though they will... MORE

On May 31, the Oberlandesgericht (state-level higher court) in Dresden, Germany sentenced the 28-year old university student “Lina E.” to five years and three months in prison for her leadership position in a “criminal entity.” Among other offenses, she caused “severe bodily harm” to others... MORE

Islamic State (IS) caliph Abu al-Hussein al-Qurashi was killed in northwestern Syria, IS’s third leader overall to be killed in the last 18 months. The role of the caliph is by definition central in the historic system of Islamic rule, the caliphate, which IS claimed... MORE

On August 6, Islamic State (IS) announced its new caliph, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. He is now the organization’s fourth caliph since Abubakar al-Baghdadi declared the caliphate in 2014 (allarabnews.com, August 6). The announcement also dispelled the notion that the previous caliph was killed by... MORE

On July 31, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the notorious Wagner Group that had attempted an unsuccessful mutiny resulting from conflict with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), stated, “At the moment, we are not planning to open recruitment centers. To avoid any talks and rumors,... MORE