Latest Articles about Middle East
Dead or Alive – Sinai’s Most Wanted: Shadi al-Manei
Egyptian security officials claimed that Shadi al-Manei, a leader of the Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, was killed in an ambush set by tribesmen in Sinai on May 22 (al-Ahram, May 24). According to the police investigation, 15 men in vehicles and armed with... MORE
June 2014 Briefs
ISIS’ NEMESIS IN ALEPPO: KHALID HAYANI AND ITIHAD LIWA SHUHADA BADR Nicholas A. Heras In spite of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) success in Iraq, it is worth remembering that it is battling against a number of armed groups in Syria, not... MORE
The Tribal Component of Iraq’s Sunni Rebellion: The General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries
Following the Iraqi armed opposition’s seizure of Mosul on June 10 and the subsequent capture of large areas of Ninewah, Salah al-Din and Ta’mim governorates from the Nuri al-Maliki government, several Iraqi organizations have proclaimed their role in the fighting. Emerging as one of the... MORE
Hot Issue: Iraqi Kurdistan’s New Security Challenges
Executive Summary The recent advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and collapse of a quarter the Iraqi Army has created both opportunities and threats for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). With Baghdad occupied by the crisis, the KRG has been able... MORE
Will Crimean Tatar Jihadists Join Forces With the Caucasus Emirate?
As the Crimean Tatars commemorated the 70th anniversary of their deportation from Crimea on May 18, many wondered what the Tatars’ next moves under the Russian occupation will be. Having already deported ethnic groups en masse—the Karachays in November 1943, the Chechens and Ingush in... MORE
Iraqi Shi’a Militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq Expands Operations to Syria
A suicide bombing struck an election rally in Baghdad that was being held by the Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi’a militia group and political party Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH - League of the Righteous) on April 26, killing 37 people (al-Jazeera, April 25; for AAH, see Terrorism... MORE
Is Egypt Russia’s Next Major Middle Eastern Arms Customer?
Today, Russia is being associated almost exclusively with the crisis it has generated in Ukraine. But that is a myopic and excessively complacent view. Indeed, Russia is carrying on a global foreign policy directed at exploiting the United States’ retreats, mistakes or vacuums created by... MORE
Status of Chechens Rises in the Ranks of Middle East Jihadists
The Russian media, citing Agence France-Presse (AFP), recently reported that Yemeni authorities killed a militant named Abu Islam al-Shizani in the south of the country. His name was probably a distortion of Shishani, which usually means Chechen in Arabic. The slain militant had allegedly earlier... MORE
Russia Convinces ‘Caspian Five’ to Bar Foreign Militaries From the Caspian
Russia’s March 17 annexation of Crimea dramatically shifted the Black Sea’s naval balance of power, as Russia appropriated most of the Ukrainian navy’s vessels and equipment, and absorbed Sevastopol. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United States made some symbolic remonstrations by sending... MORE
Algeria’s Political Transition Begins in the Midst of Major Security Challenges
Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika won his fourth term in office on April 17, when he took over 81 percent of the vote in presidential elections. Former prime minister Ali Benflis failed in his second attempt to unseat Bouteflika, taking only 12 percent of the vote... MORE