With bitter fighting continuing to afflict large tracts of Syria, where more than 7,000 people have lost their lives in just over a month, predicting the outcome of the country’s brutal civil war may appear somewhat premature. And yet, for all the sacrifices made by rebel fighters during the past two years, the likelihood that […]
Iran’s strategic ambitions are not limited to looking West into the Arab world and the war in Syria. It is also looking East, where it has an active alliance with China and a working relationship with India, but closer to its borders, Iran is working hard to build its influence in Afghanistan. Read Here – […]
The CIA could begin shipping arms to Syria in the coming weeks, after two US congressional panels cleared the way for the controversial transfer of weapons. The White House announced in June that it would provide limited military support for vetted rebel groups, which have recently been struggling in their campaign against President Bashar al-Assad. Read Here – The Guardian
The United States is facing the worst of all worlds in the Middle East: interventions that erode Washington’s prestige and popularity but fail to exert enough influence to secure U.S. interests. If Secretary of State John Kerry‘s effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks is to succeed — and if the United States is to secure its […]
As Army officers gather the intelligence that may anticipate a Hezbollah attempt to seize power, the possibility of an army coup d’état cannot be ruled out in Lebanon, writes Joseph A. Kechichian Read Here – Gulf News
The end of political Islam has been predicted time and time again for more than 20 years. The trajectory followed by the regime in Iran, the crises in Algeria, Egypt and elsewhere pointed to the conclusion drawn by Olivier Roy (followed by Gilles Kepel): “The failure of political Islam” and its inevitable end, which had […]
Rohani‘s reputation as a mediator and someone who has worked within the corridors of power should be an advantage that Khatami, who was director of the national library before he became president, never enjoyed…A big test will be whether Rohani pushes for the release from house arrest of Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, two reformist leaders […]
To stop Syria’s meltdown and contain its mushrooming threats, the United States should launch a partial military intervention aimed at pushing all sides to the negotiating table, argues Andrew. J. Tabler in Foreign Affairs Creating a no-fly zone sounds good on paper, military officials say, and might help to give a morale boost to the […]
The United States hoped to build Turkey into a model democracy in the Middle East, and to wait out the turmoil of the Arab Spring. Both policies have failed. Read Here – The European
Iran votes on Friday in a presidential election unlikely to result in seismic shifts in its troubled relations with the West and Gulf Arab neighbors, but which could bring a softening of the confrontational style personified by outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Read Here – Reuters
looking beyond borders 