Geopolitics

The ISIS leader threatened attacks on Israel and called on Muslims to join the group, but his appeal largely fell flat to hundreds online. In Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s latest purported call to violence, the leader of ISIS insisted his self-declared caliphate was strong and intact, despite the erosion …

As we step into the new year, we face a world in which geopolitical and geo-economic risks are multiplying. Most of West Asia is ablaze, stoking speculation that a long Sunni-Shia war (like Europe’s Thirty Years’ War between Catholics and Protestants) could be at hand. China’s rise is …

When Saudi Arabia announced Saturday that it had executed Nimr al-Nimr, a controversial Shia cleric, international criticism was sharp and swift. Al-Nimrwas a harsh critic of the Saudi leadership, and his rhetoric occasionally contained striking similarities to that of Iranian leaders. Yet the Saudis had locked him up …

First off, Russia has assumed the key role of setting the region’s agenda, and it’s Moscow, no other country, that’s affecting the most tangible change in the Middle East region. This development didn’t come out of nowhere, as despite the surprised reaction of many observers, Russia had been …

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya After shooting down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M tactical bomber jet operating in Syrian airspace, in early December 2015 the Turkish government sent a heavily armed battalion to the Zilkan military base in Iraq. This move ignited tensions between Ankara and the Iraqi federal government, which …

The contrast is striking. The United States, especially during this political season, talks to itself about the hard choice between sustaining its global footprint and “nation building at home.” China’s leadership, meanwhile, has launched ambitious programs in both areas, enlarging its global footprint and re-orientating the emphasis of …

Kemal Kirkuki’s headquarters overlooks a pastoral scene northwest of Kirkuk. Decked out in traditional Kurdish clothes he had just finished a meeting. An orderly brought tea. Across one wall of his office is a giant map of the current area of operations for his peshmerga units. The peshmerga …

Saudi Arabia announced Sunday it would cut diplomatic ties with Iran. According to the Al Arabiya news channel, Riyadh announced cutting ties with Tehran and decided to evict Iranian diplomatic mission from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at a news conference that Iran’s diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia had been given 48 …

The political space for nonviolent, Islam-inflected politics has become narrower and more treacherous in the last year. Squeezed by repression on one side and radical violence on the other, nonviolent political Islamists were increasingly silenced or eliminated in 2015. Moderate parties were sidelines in Egypt, Algeria, Jordan and …