Photo Credit: Associated Press By Farnaz Alimehri, Columnist Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s Vice President and Nuclear Chief, recently traveled to the Czech Republic. There, he met with several Czech officials, including the Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, in an attempt to develop a bilateral nuclear cooperation between Iran and the Czech … Continue reading A Brighter Future for Iranian Nonproliferation?
Category: Middle East & North Africa
Jabhat al-Nusra: An Enduring, Yet Imperfect Adversary
Photo Credit: Counter Jihad Report By Sam Rosenberg, Guest Contributor Over the past several years, Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) has built a sustainable organization in Syria that will not easily be defeated. Since its establishment in 2012 during the Syrian Civil War, JN has shown that it has learned from al-Qaeda’s past mistakes. The group established … Continue reading Jabhat al-Nusra: An Enduring, Yet Imperfect Adversary
How Congress Can Prevent a Nuclear Iran
Photo Credit: CNN By Melanie Campbell, Columnist The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) most recent quarterly report brings good news for supporters of the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the international agreement curtailing Iran’s nuclear program. [i] The report confirms that Iran is meeting its nuclear obligations and has granted the IAEA … Continue reading How Congress Can Prevent a Nuclear Iran
Could Saddam’s Faith Campaign Have Given Us ISIS?: An Iraqi Perspective
Photo Credit: The Guardian By Yasir Kuoti, Guest Contributor ISIS and Saddam’s Faith Campaign: Is There A Link? With the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in Iraq in March 2003, the troubles for Iraqis did not end as hoped for. Decisions that followed, principally the retiring of Iraqi security forces by the Bush administration … Continue reading Could Saddam’s Faith Campaign Have Given Us ISIS?: An Iraqi Perspective
With an Iron Fist: What the Start of Syria’s Civil War Tells Us About its End
Photo Credit: Breaking World Wide News By Jonathan Challgren, Columnist When Bashar al-Assad declared during a January 2012 speech that he would crush a “terrorist conspiracy” with “an iron fist,” Syria was already well on its way towards civil war.[1] Understanding Assad’s strategy and the opposition’s viability are critical as efforts to curtail the violence … Continue reading With an Iron Fist: What the Start of Syria’s Civil War Tells Us About its End
Why We Should Still Move Forward Towards a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East
Photo Credit: Reuters By Farnaz Alimehri, Columnist At the 2015 Review Conference for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), efforts to establish part of the Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone (MEWMDFZ) were defeated when the participating states failed to agree on the agenda for a regional nuclear weapons conference. … Continue reading Why We Should Still Move Forward Towards a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East
Terrorist Radicalization and the Targeting Issue
Photo Credit: PBS.org By Nate Subramanian, Columnist Who are we talking to? And what are we saying? Given the reactionary response of many political figures in the United States and Europe to the recent terror attacks in Belgium, it is perhaps best to consider not how a counter-radicalization narrative could succeed, but rather how it … Continue reading Terrorist Radicalization and the Targeting Issue
Misguided Analysis and the Reality of Jordanian Politics
Photo Credit: The Platform By Rachel Bessette, Columnist A raid by Jordanian Special Forces on suspected ISIS militants in Irbid on March 2nd reinvigorated debate on Jordan’s anomalous stability in a region marred by conflict.[i] All the classic warning signs for instability are there—Jordanian youth unemployment is at nearly 30% according to the World Bank, … Continue reading Misguided Analysis and the Reality of Jordanian Politics
Exploiting the Inherent Seam in the Islamic State
Photo Credit: Reuters By Kathryn Hillegass, Columnist It is time to put ISIS back in its place. Not by “bombing the s**t” out them of as a certain Presidential hopeful may espouse, but by discrediting the legitimacy of a global Islamic caliphate. [i] The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham is a radical Salafi Islamist … Continue reading Exploiting the Inherent Seam in the Islamic State
Iran’s Quest for the Su-30 Fighter Jet
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons By Anthony D’Amato, Columnist Good news rarely comes out of the Middle East these days. On February 15, 2016, Iranian Defense Minister, Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, announced that Iran and Russia are on the verge of signing a contract to co-produce the Su-30 fighter jet. [i] Although this pronouncement did not … Continue reading Iran’s Quest for the Su-30 Fighter Jet