In The News

Leaked IS Documents Identify Thousands of Jihadis

Stuart Ramsay March 10, 2016
A report, not yet been confirmed by authorities, suggests that a disgruntled Islamic State member confiscated a memory stick from the terrorist group’s internal security chief. The stick is said to contain thousands of documents including registration forms for recruits including names, addresses, family contacts, anticipated level of obedience and readiness for suicide missions. “A lot of the...

Elections Gains Unlikely to Shift Iran Power Balance Fast

Samia Nakhoul March 2, 2016
Candidates in Iran must win approval from the nation’s council of clerics that reports to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Hassan Rouhani, deemed least conservative, was reelected with a high turnout. His conservative rivals oppose the country’s recent agreement to end its nuclear-weapons program and steps toward improving relations with the West. “Rouhani may have a stronger...

Russia: Only Tactical Success in the Middle East

Thomas Graham March 1, 2016
Despite an economic downturn and depressed oil prices, Russia wrested control in eastern Ukraine and Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking a gamble “that Europe would eventually seize an offer of cooperation in Syria to constrict the migrant flow and contain the terrorist threat and that such cooperation would sap Europe’s aversion to Russian behavior in Ukraine, leading to a decision...

The War of Western Failures: Hopes for Syria Fall with Aleppo

February 29, 2016
Russian strikes in Syria’s civil war support the government against Sunni majority rebels with bombs targeting civilian population centers, schools and hospitals. “Once upon a time Aleppo was the largest city in Syria, an economic powerhouse with a city center listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site,” notes Spiegel Online. The city lacks adequate supplies in food, fuel, medical aid and water. “In...

Turkey: The Eastern Question Is Back

Jonathan Marcus February 26, 2016
The Middle East and Europe have a long history of shifting boundaries and periods of destabilization. Europe viewed Turkey as a bulwark against Russian influence, explains Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent for BBC News. He points to the Crimean War of the 1850s, with France and Great Britain battling Russian influence in Turkey: “Times change - but geography doesn't, and strategic...

Radioactive Material Stolen in Iraq Raises Security Concerns

Ahmed Rasheed, Aref Mohammed and Stephen Kalin February 19, 2016
A camera containing the radioactive isotope of iridium went missing in Iraq in November, and the concern is that the material could fall into the hands of Islamic State terrorists and be transformed into a weapon. The camera, owned by a Turkish firm and used for oil drilling, was last seen in US facility in Basra. “The material is classed as a Category 2 radioactive source by the IAEA, meaning...

Putin Is No Ally Against ISIS

George Soros February 12, 2016
Russia’s indiscriminate bombing of population centers in Syria by Russia may temporarily save the Assad regime, but is threatening the region and Europe, too, argues George Soros, financier and philanthropist, in an essay for Project Syndicate. “There is no reason to believe [Russian President Vladimir Putin] intervened in Syria in order to aggravate the European refugee crisis," he writes...