Military & Security

With tensions ratcheting up between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the potential for conflict is growing. While Iranian forces are no match technologically for Riyadh’s lavishly equipped military, Tehran can use what equipment and troops it does have in clever ways to offset that advantage. But sanctions have done …

In 2014, George Galloway, at the time a Member of Parliament, warned the British government that intervention in Iraq and the Middle East would only lead to more terrorism and instability around the world. One year later, the world is reeling from the Paris attacks and other terrorist …

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 …

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties (NYT) with Iran in the regional fallout triggered by the Saudi execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric. Nimr was one of forty-seven prisoners executed (BBC) across the country on Saturday. The severing of ties comes after protesters stormed the …

Zalmay Khalilzad If history is any indication, even the most promising news from Iraq must be celebrated with caution. But the liberation of the heart of Ramadi, if consolidated, can offer lessons for long-term strategic successes in Iraq and for broader campaign against ISIS. While the outcome in …

ISIS loyalists are brainstorming more creative ways to inflict violence against their enemies. A prominent user put out a call on an online forum frequented by supporters of the terror group, asking for outside-the-box ideas for terrorism. More than dozen Islamic State sympathizers added and discussed ideas, Vocativ …

Iraqi commandos and U.S. airstrikes drove the terror army from much of the city. But that war plan could backfire the next time around. Pentagon officials hailed the U.S.-trained Iraqi army this week for retaking much of the western Iraq city of Ramadi from the self-proclaimed Islamic State. …

The Yazidi shopkeepers in Snuny, in northern Iraq, have a warmth about them that belies their circumstances. A year ago their town was liberated from ISIS by Kurdish peshmerga forces. The hope was that some of the 250,000 Yazidis who fled ISIS after the extremist group began massacring …

China has confirmed it was building a second aircraft carrier, as neighbors worry about Beijing’s new assertiveness to claims in the South China Sea. Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said the carrier had been designed in China and was being built in the port of Dalian. Foreign military analysts …