In The News

Steve Stecklow January 2, 2013
Companies with multiple owners from around the globe, numerous vendors and middlemen, and outsourced manufacturing all add to the challenges of enforcing sanctions on any international products headed to Iran. An Iranian partner to Huawei Technologies is reported to have tried to sell US antenna equipment from Andrew LLC to an Iranian mobile-phone operator. More surprising is that the Iranian...
Mohammed Ayoob December 17, 2012
Turkey has enjoyed enormous economic success over the past decade, and is now ranked as the world’s 16th largest economy. At the same time, the government has steered an independent foreign policy course under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, maintaining security ties with the US through NATO, supporting protesters throughout the Arab Spring regime changes...
Abukar Arman November 29, 2012
The concept of jihad is debated by many and largely misunderstood or misinterpreted by those seeking to drive a wedge between Islam and the West. In setting out guidelines for adherents of the faith, the Prophet Mohammed was intent on transforming society in the 7th century, eliminating ignorance and developing a common code for conduct. Abukar Arman, Somalia special envoy to the United States,...
Rami G. Khouri November 23, 2012
The Islamist-led government of Egypt has brokered a truce to end the fierce fighting and exchange of rocket fire between Gaza and Israel. Israel was poised for a ground invasion, but that’s on hold for now. The events reveal old, failed patterns in the Middle East and a seemingly endless conflict that’s has long instigated regional bitterness, determination and extremism, writes Rami G. Khouri,...
Jamsheed K. Choksy, Carol E. B. Choksy November 14, 2012
Both the United States and Iran must contend with polarized politics. Yet large majorities of Iranians and Americans do not support Iran’s development of nuclear capability for military purposes and do not want to start a war over the issue. An attack on Iran’s nuclear program, which it insists is for peaceful purposes, is useless because the knowhow is there, as it is in many other places, and...
October 26, 2012
Factions in the Middle East may be waging shadow wars in neighboring countries. The BBC News reports that Sudan officials are blaming Israel for blasting an arms factory in Khartoum and notes that “a bitter secret war has been going on for a number of years between Israel and Hamas, with Sudan apparently very much one of the battlegrounds.” Sudan officials said the factory made traditional arms....
Fawaz A. Gerges September 19, 2012
Modern Salafi beliefs emerged from a reform-oriented movement of the late 19th century. The movement eventually became more conservative, evolving into multiple forms. Evidence suggests that a small group of ultraconservative Salafis may have hijacked protests over an obscure, anti-Islamic film and orchestrated attacks on US embassies in the Middle East. “The Salafis are spearheading a drive to...