Tag: ISIS

Strategic Actors in Libya

/ Q & A

Political Scientist Lisa Anderson explores how the local players in the Libyan conflict affect the decision-making of states, both in North Africa and beyond.

Pompeo’s “Real New Beginning”?

/ Midan

In a speech which may have policy implications for the Trump Administration’s Middle East policy, the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lays out plans for the region at the American University in Cairo.

Russia’s Sharp Turns

/ Essays

To get involved in Syria, Russia had to turn to Iran as an unexpected ally, yet as the conflict develops, it is ready to accommodate any and all players to strengthen its foothold in the region 

Acts of Annihilation

/ Essays

Perceptions of the Islamic State’s attack on the Yazidis focus on the enslavement of women and girls, but the barbarous gender-based assaults on women as well as men are an integral part of the group’s campaign of genocide to eradicate a religious minority.

Terror Will Be a Blight on the Obama Legacy

/ Tahrir Forum

This is a bitter legacy for the past three American administrations and for all their international partners in inhuman, uncaring policies that have wrecked the lives and futures of hundreds of millions of people.

The Yazidi Genocide

/ Essays

Beheading of men, rape, and enslavement of women—the destruction of a minority ethnic community is among the crimes committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Will the group be brought to justice for its persecution of the Yazidis?

How ISIS Will End

/ Essays

The Islamic State group is losing territory in Iraq and Syria, but it may have staying power in one of its three permutations: ISIS is simultaneously a movement for Sunni Muslim empowerment, a global jihadist movement, and an apocalyptic cult.

Beating ISIS in the Battlegrounds of its Birth

/ Tahrir Forum

Unless and until the Arab world’s political and socioeconomic dimensions are addressed and significantly improved, the Islamic State group or other movements like it, or even worse than it, will continue to emerge from Arab societies.

Syria Becomes Ever More Complicated

/ Tahrir Forum

Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, and Iran effectively have to be seen as a single geo-strategic arena in which hundreds of local and national actors engage one another—and many have links to other regional players and global powers.

After Ramadi, Challenges Remain for Abadi

/ Tahrir Forum

Despite the small but important military victory in Ramadi, Iraqi forces still face significant challenges fighting the Islamic State in Anbar and reining in Shia militias in Diyala and Basra.

Obama’s Tarnished Legacy in the Middle East

/ Essays

President Barack Obama had to deal with a dysfunctional state system and fraying civil societies, as well as blowback from George W. Bush’s invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet his own actions and inactions throughout two terms of office contributed significantly to the great unraveling of the Middle East.

Making War vs. Hearing Citizens in the Arab World

/ Tahrir Forum

People who seek real insights into Arabs’ views and values, rather than the fantasy and racism that dominate much of the public discussion, would do well to read the extensive poll findings of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.

Changes in Syria’s Armed Opposition

/ Tahrir Forum

The promise of Western military support and a shared opposition to Russia’s intervention are driving Syrian opposition forces to unite and—for many of them—move away from extremist rhetoric.

More Evidence on How Not to Fight ISIS

/ Tahrir Forum

A typical week in the confounding “global war on terror,” in which terrorists perform their evil deeds across many countries while governments keep looking for the appropriate strategy to defeat them.

Desconstructing the ISIS Crisis

/ Tahrir Forum

ISIS has carried out attacks in Turkey, Egypt, and France over the past month. In response, international leaders have declared “war” on the terrorist organization. It remains far from clear whether further military intervention will harm, or benefit, the so-called “Islamic State”.

Hollande’s War

/ Tahrir Forum

President Hollande has called for a “merciless struggle” against ISIS. But France’s “war” with the terrorist group began well before Friday’s attacks.

Behind Iraq’s Crony State

/ Tahrir Forum

ISIS and other militants dominate the headlines, but Iraq’s citizens face daily another, equally terrifying threat: a failing, and criminally corrupt, state.

Leaving Syrians No Options

/ Tahrir Forum

By destroying rebel groups’ attempts at local governance, Russian military assistance is helping Assad present his government as the only viable force to rule Syria.

Rule of Terror

/ Essays

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) proclaimed a caliphate in 2014. An in-depth report on how its militants are using severe brutality and radical interpretations of sharia law to govern a large civilian population.