In The News

Saudi Nuclear Deal Raises Stakes for Iran Talks

Jay Solomon and Ahmed Al Omran March 13, 2015
Saudi Arabia, possibly nudged by rival Iran’s negotiations with the US and allies, has signed its own civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea. This follows similar Saudi agreements with China, France and Argentina. Saudi officials have criticized the US position on the Iranian negotiations, and the US has agreements with allies France and South Korea that prohibit distribution of...

Identity Politics, Corruption, Insecurity: Brave New World

John Githongo March 10, 2015
The phrase “identity politics” describes a range of political activity focused on shared experiences of injustice and marginalization, suggests the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. A global challenge emerges in addressing the activities, whether peaceful protests associated with the Arab Spring or the rise of vicious Islamic State and Nigerian Boko Haram extremists. Partisanship, neglect and...

From Eastern Flank, Iran-Backed Force Advances on Tikrit

Thaier al-Sudani March 6, 2015
When the US led an invasion into largely Shia Iraq in 2003, critics warned the move would strengthen the influence of neighboring Iran, predominately Shia. The West has urged Muslim countries in the region to stand up to extremism. Iran is heeding the call, its forces fighting side by side with Iraqis against Islamic State extremists who have murdered Shia Muslims, Christians and others. The West...

Iran Nuclear Talks: The 5 Options for What Happens If They Fail

Seyed Hossein Mousavian March 5, 2015
In an address to US Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized negotiations to end Iran’s nuclear program by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council along with Germany as it “doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb; it paves Iran’s path to the bomb.” The negotiations are making “unprecedented progress,” writes Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a former spokesman for Iran’s...

Netanyahu, Obama and the Geopolitics of Speeches

George Friedman March 4, 2015
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing US Congress, warned that a deal with Iran, under negotiation with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, is inadequate. George Friedman, chairman of Stratfor Global Intelligence, writes that the issue at stake is larger than the nuclear deal under negotiation and outlines the history of US-Israeli relations: “the...

All It Takes to Cross From Turkey to ISIS-Held Syria Is $25

Sophia Jones March 2, 2015
Once aspiring jihadists reach Turkey, the last stage of crossing into the Islamic State controlled area is simple, with $25 and help from smugglers, explains Sophia Jones for the WorldPost. “Despite Turkey’s insistence that it’s doing all it can to secure the 500-mile-long border, smugglers, fighters and refugees say that Turkish criminal gangs and bribed Turkish paramilitary police have created...

Why the West Is Losing the Battle Against Radical Islam

Azeem Ibrahim February 26, 2015
The West can no longer hold its tongue on fundamentalist religious sects that emphasize piety to the point of counting a few followers worthy while dismissing everyone else in the world. Such is the case with Wahhabism, or Salafism, the state religion in Saudi Arabia that’s exported to other Muslim nations with the help of oil dollars. Azeem Ibrahim, PhD, international security lecturer at the...