James Pothecary
James Pothecary is a senior political analyst at Falanx Assynt. He specializes in political violence, and has experience working in political analysis and security operations. He holds a MA with Distinction in ‘Terrorism, Insurgency and Security Studies’ from the University of Leeds and is a former volunteer police officer.
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Articles by James Pothecary
Abqaiq: Lessons for Countering Drones
Introduction On September 14, a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) reportedly attacked Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq energy facility, one of the world’s largest crude oil processing sites, alongside the Khurais...
A Neighbor’s Dilemma: The Implications of the Libyan Crisis on Tunisia
Introduction In April, paramilitary forces loyal to the Libyan National Army (LNA)—the armed wing of the Tobruk administration—began its campaign to take the capital Tripoli from the UN-backed Government of...
Looking Up: The Security Implications of UAV Proliferation
Introduction In the ebb and flow of the Afghanistan war, international coalition forces have historically had sole access to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has regularly...
Tajikistan’s Islamist Shadow
Introduction A sedan struck seven foreign cyclists riding through Tajikistan’s Danghara district on July 29. Despite initial confused reports that it was nothing more than a car accident, grainy footage...
Russia a Fair-Weather Friend for Syria’s Kurds
In the kaleidoscopic, ever-shifting array of factions that characterize the Syrian civil war, allegiances can shift in surprising ways. Nowhere is this more evident than in the relationship between Russia...
Why al-Nusra’s ‘Break’ With al-Qaeda Poses a Problem for the West
In July, the leader of Syrian Islamist militant group Jabhat al-Nusra, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, announced his faction had changed its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS) and was amicably splitting...
Syria’s Conflict: Managing Turkey’s Intervention
On August 24, Turkish armor, infantry, and air units crossed the Syrian border and, in conjunction with the Ankara-supported Free Syrian Army (FSA) Sunni-dominated rebel group, launched a full-scale assault...