Terrorism & Extremism

The Islamic State may have lost its territory, its cities and the illusion of statehood that once allowed it to control large parts of Syria and Iraq, but it did not necessarily lose its wealth. Beneath abandoned farms, desert tracks, private properties and the ruins of its former …

Palestinian politics is approaching a potentially extraordinary moment. With legislative elections scheduled for November 28, 2026, forces that spent years fighting one another may now find themselves sharing the same electoral list. Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, is seeking the broadest possible political coalition. …

Hadi Elis  The Puppeteer of the Middle East: Britain’s Legacy of Sabotage Against the Kurds Standfirst: From WWI chemical weapons to the recent betrayal of Rojava, Britain has consistently worked to deny Kurdish self-determination, using Turkey as its willing proxy. Since World War I, Britain has systematically manipulated …

By Dr. Dan Steinbock              The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has produced precisely the kind of strategic blowback that earlier Israeli and American war-gaming had warned against. So, why the escalation? Iran has not collapsed, while Hormuz has become a global economic choke point. The central failure was not …

J. Morgan Turkey and Israel do not appear, at least for now, to be willing to test the limits of their military power against each other inside Syria. Yet recent developments suggest that the two countries are moving steadily closer to a more dangerous zone in which strategic …

Eng. Saleem Al-Batayneh The Arab world today appears increasingly fragmented, with individual states carrying their own crises while struggling to exercise collective influence. From Gaza to Doha, the region is experiencing a profound strategic vacuum in which traditional alliances are being tested and new alignments are emerging. The …

Israeli War Minister Israel Katz warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, writing in Turkish on X that Erdogan “is dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria” and that “Israel” will not “allow any actor to threaten its security”. Katz added that “it would be better” for …

By Dr. Dan Steinbock              For China and the Global South, US-EU tensions are part of a broader struggle over selective globalization. The US increasingly prioritizes technological dominance, supply-chain security, industrial protection and strategic competition with China. Under Trump, this approach has become openly transactional and unilateral: tariffs, market …

Dan Steinbock              After three months, the Ebola crisis in Central Africa has crossed a critical regional threshold. Concurrently, it reflects the emerging US/China division—and possible complementarity—of global health power. In late May, the principal question was whether the newly declared outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo …