We want to make sure you get the best viewing experience for the content you are viewing. Our goal is to improve each visit with data that creates this experience for you and those you share it with. We appreciate your continued readership.

Sounds Good! Privacy Policy

Iraq

Defense & SecurityIraq, ISIS, Syria, Terrorism, United States

Now That Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is Dead, What Next?

Alan Lis

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, was killed on the 26th of October in a raid carried out by U.S. Special Forces when he detonated a suicide…

Defense & SecurityIndia, Iraq, ISIS, Sri Lanka, Syria

Sri Lanka: Jihadism and Separatism in an Ethnically-Divided Country

Paolo Zucconi

On April 21st, Sri Lanka suffered from several lethal terrorist attacks that killed at least 359 people and injured over 500 more. Of the victims, thirty-five were citizens of foreign…

Defense & SecurityHezbollah, Iran, Iraq, IRGC, ISIS, Lebanon, Syria, United States

Designating the IRGC as a Terrorist Group: Consequences for U.S. Forces

Ali Arfa

The obsession in the United States with the “war on terror” entered a new phase when U.S. President Donald Trump formally designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign…

Defense & SecurityIran, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, United States

The Next Middle East Conflict Could Emerge Out of a Cyber Clash

Ali Arfa

Pandora's Box of cyber warfare was opened when the United States and Israel initiated the Stuxnet attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure in the summer of 2010. In response, Iran hit…

DiplomacyIran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Russia, Syria, United States

What’s next for Iran after the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal?

Ehsan Ahrari

Iran versus the United States Commenting on competitive interactions between a weak and a strong state, Thucydides is reported to have stated: “The strong do what they have to do and…

Government & PoliticsBrazil, Cambodia, European Union, Hungary, Iraq, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, United States

10 Elections to Watch in 2018

James M. Lindsay

Millions of people around the world voted in elections this year. The French elected Emmanuel Macron president, while South Koreans elected Moon Jae-in president. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani won reelection…

Defense & SecurityIran, Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United States

What to Watch For in Post-ISIS Iraq and Syria

Zachary Laub

As the campaigns to wrest the Islamic State from the territory it held in Iraq and Syria near completion, new conflicts may arise if old political arrangements prevail. The self-proclaimed…

Defense & SecurityChina, Energy, European Union, Foreign Policy, France, International Security, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Northern Africa, Oil, OPEC, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, United States

Converging Economic and Demographic Trends Threaten Security in the Middle East and North Africa

Joshua Ball

With oil prices unlikely to recover to levels of the petroleum boom governments may have to limit cash payments and subsidies. In the meantime, social networks have provided new tools…