In The News

Watch Three Mideastern Developments Very Carefully

Rami G. Khouri September 29, 2014
The Middle East is under fire and dealing with the chaos encourages strange bedfellows. Violent rampages of Islamic State terrorists, alarm all and could spur new cooperation. Most players support US-led strikes in Iraq and Syria, coordinated with five Arab states, though many claim the intervention comes too late. Other critics ask how intervention can be applied without instigating more...

Europe's Muslims Stand Up to ISIS With Public Protests, Twitter Campaign

September 26, 2014
The world has more than 1 billion Muslims and the vast majority reject that the Islamic State terrorists represent their faith. “From Norway in the far north to Germany and France, Muslims have taken to the streets to denounce the IS militants controlling large areas of Iraq and Syria who they say have hijacked their religion and terminology to spread hate and breed violence,” reports Agence...

Dockyard Attackers Planned to Hijack Navy Frigate

Fahim Zaman and Naziha Syed Ali September 17, 2014
Extremists can sign up for military service and bide their time, as suggested by a September 6th attempted hijack of a navy frigate in Karachi for an unstated purpose. The Pakistani government resisted releasing details, reports Dawn, perhaps because 17 serving navy personnel, including a senior officer, allegedly participated, using rocket launchers, assault rifles and hand-grenades. The Dawn...

US Forms “Core Coalition” to Counter ISIS

Phil Stewart and Julien Ponthus September 5, 2014
The United States has organized a “core coalition” and seeks more members to battle Islamic State terrorists. Ground forces are ruled out for now. The coalition was organized at the NATO summit. A campaign to defeat the terrorist group – deemed a threat for the Middle East and western nations, too – could last years. “NATO announced plans for allies to share more information on westerners...

Chinese Authorities Offer Money for Mixed Marriages

Jamil Anderlini September 4, 2014
Hoping for assimilation in multi-ethnic China and to curtail protests and unrest, Chinese officials have started paying cash bonuses for interracial marriages, reports Jamil Anderlini for Financial Times – an annual payment of $1600, or the 135 percent of average annual rural incomes, for up to five years. Uighurs, Mongolians and other minorities make up about 10 percent of the Chinese population...

Confronting Islamic State Group: Coalition of Rivals?

Shashank Joshi September 2, 2014
The self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group moved swiftly through Syria and Iraq, committing war crimes in two countries ravaged by civil war and sectarian divide. The group’s evolving name and online maps make no secret of the group’s ambitions for restoring a caliphate. ISIS closes in on and threatens borders with Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iran. A broad coalition of...

Turkey Struggles as “Lone Gatekeeper” Against Islamic State Recruitment

Nick Tattersall and Mariam Karouny August 27, 2014
Thousands of foreign fighters from Turkey, Europe and the United States have crossed the Turkish border with Syria, eager to join the brutal Islamic State group. Early in the Syrian uprising, Turkey maintained an open border to allow safe passage for refugees and support for moderate Syrian rebels. “That policy now appears to have been a miscalculation and has drawn accusations, strongly denied...