In The News

A Justified Extension for Iran Nuclear Talks, But Hard Choices Ahead

Robert Einhorn July 21, 2014
Iran and P5+1 countries – United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany – are extending talks on ending Iran’s nuclear program for another four months. A “six-month halt in all significant advances in Iran's nuclear program will remain in effect, as will the modest but worthwhile lengthening of the time it would take Iran to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a...

Turkey's Kurdish Buffer

Soner Cagaptay July 17, 2014
The rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or IS or ISIS, in conjunction with the civil wars in Syria and Iraq, has put more pressure on both Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kurds to work together. The Kurdish people are spread throughout Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. Before 2003, Kurds would have resisted working the Turkish government, which they regarded as oppressive. Kurdish...

Telangana Illegal Immigrants in Iraq in No Man’s Land

TNN July 14, 2014
Around 15,000 illegal migrants from India, according to Gulf Returnees' Welfare Association, GRWA, are trapped in Iraq, and their families are scrambling for official help with their safe return, gathering documents to establish their nationality at the Indian embassy. Many workers were illegally sent with “dummy” visas into Iraq to work for US soldiers as the Indian government had imposed...

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon: Gaza Situation “on Knife-Edge”

July 10, 2014
Israel and Gaza continue an unending cycle of rage and retaliation, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warns the region "cannot afford another full-blown war," reports BBC News. “He demanded that Hamas militants stop firing rockets and also urged the Israeli government to exercise restraint and respect international obligations to protect civilians.” The most recent exchange of...

How to Turn Off the ISIS Tap

Carol E. B. Choksy and Jamsheed K. Choksy July 8, 2014
Wealthy donors and even officials in Muslim nations like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have tolerated terrorist groups that attack religious foes in other nations. Inevitably, the extremists lash back, seeking to control the minds and hands that feed them. Such is the case with the self-proclaimed caliphate known as the Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, which controls extensive...

Last of Syria's Chemical Weapons Shipped Out

July 7, 2014
In the port of Latakia, Syria, a group of ships have departed carrying the last of Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons, transferred to the MV Cape Ray for disarmament. The most toxic elements will be destroyed on board in the Mediterranean Sea while the rest of the agents will be eliminated in Finland, the UK and the US. The operation to dismantle these weapons was approved by the Syrian...

The Palestinian National Reconciliation: Regional and International Implications

Fadi Elhusseini June 26, 2014
After seven years, fragmented Palestine has come together to form a unity government that has implications for the entire Middle East. Unrest and conflict throughout the Middle East prompted compromise, suggests Fadi Elhusseini in the Middle East Monitor. “Developments in Syria and its repercussions in Lebanon have also prompted the Palestinian factions to reconsider their domestic policies.” He...