Latest Articles about Middle East
Is US-Russian Joint Operation Against Islamic State Possible?
Vladimir Putin has something to be proud of. Only a year and half has passed since the Russian president called for the creation of a broad anti-terrorist coalition of the civilized world, in his last speech at the United Nations General Assembly. The Kremlin apparently... MORE
Gerasimov Revamps Russian Military Hard Power, Based on Syria Lessons
While the reputation and prestige of Russia’s Armed Forces was damaged abroad by its involvement in Ukraine, the intervention in Syria has been reaping dividends both at home and abroad. The General Staff attaches greater importance to learning lessons based on the Syria conflict than... MORE
The New Face of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood? A Post-Mortem Analysis of Hassm Leader Mohamed Ashour Dashisha
A new strand of Islamist jihadism— one more in line with the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology than Salafism—has been taking shape in the context of Egypt’s ongoing Islamist insurgency. This developing strand is the byproduct of the violent aftermath of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s ouster from... MORE
The Bitcoin Jihadist: Bahrun Naim and Islamic State’s Brigade of Indonesians
One of Islamic State’s (IS) most entrepreneurial jihadists is Bahrun Naim, a Syria-based Indonesian who has been planning attacks on his native Indonesia through online contacts in the country. The most recent operation with Naim at the helm involved a female suicide bomber who was... MORE
The Abdullah Azzam of Syria: A Profile of Abdallah Muhammad Bin-Sulayman al-Muhaysini
Since 2012, the Syrian civil war has been platform facilitating the rise of dozens of jihadist ideologues, clerics and fighters associated with Islamic State (IS), al-Qaeda’s affiliate Jabath Fatah al-Sham (previously known as Jabath al-Nusra) or the myriad Islamist groups fighting in the country. Few... MORE
Mazen al- Nahiri: Baathist Officer Turned Islamic State Commander
With the rise of Islamic State’s (IS) self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who made his first public appearance in July 2014, deviated from the norms of secrecy normally attached to any jihadist leadership (YouTube, July 5, 2014). With more militants from... MORE
Armenia-Iran Versus Azerbaijan-Israel: Where Is Russia?
The South Caucasus region has been undergoing a new polarization, with Armenia and Iran increasingly facing off together against Azerbaijan and Israel. Last December’s visits by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Baku and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Yerevan are indicative of this trend.... MORE
Moscow Maneuvering to Become Supreme Arbiter in Syria
Last month (December 2016), the eastern half of Syria’s prewar most-populated city, Aleppo, held by opposition fighters since 2012, fell under a relentless assault from joint Iranian, Russian and pro-government Syrian forces The Syrian opposition fighters, together with some of the civilian population, were allowed... MORE
Moscow Seeks to Reinforce Trump’s Belief That Force Alone Can Defeat Islamic State
For at least the last 15 years, there has been an intense debate in both Russia and the West about how radical Islam can be defeated. Some argue that force alone is sufficient, but their opponents say that because radical Islam is an ideological project,... MORE
Terrorist Threat in Georgia Shifts From Exporting Militants to Homegrown and Returning Fighters
Mukhammad Khangoshvili, a 24-year-old inhabitant of the village of Duisi, in Pankisi Gorge, Georgia, was killed, on November 7, 2016, in a bombing of the Islamic State’s (IS) positions in the Iraqi city of Mosul (News.ge, November 8, 2016). Khangoshvili previously served as a bodyguard... MORE