Turkish soccer pitches tell the story of hardening fault lines
Turkish soccer pitches tell the story of the country’s multiple sharpening fault lines that are…
Browsing: Features
Russia Seeks to Reassure Israel Over Syria Pullout Plan
Reuters A Russian diplomat sought to reassure Israel on Tuesday that its security would not…
The Mideast’s Precision Guided Arms Race
Patrick Megahan Precision guided munitions (PGMs) encompass a growing range of bombs and missiles designed…
Saudi ‘Raad al-Shamal’ exercise looks smaller than billed
Jeremy Binnie, London – IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly A still from a video released by…
Countering Russian and Assad Regime Responses to Safe Zones
For such zones to succeed, they must be backed with militarily enforced no-fly zones and…
Putin’s Patriarch: Does the Kremlin Control the Church?
By George Soroka In The Clash of Civilizations, Samuel Huntington memorably bemoaned that, whereas in…
The Battle of Aleppo Is the Center of the Syrian Chessboard
With ample Russian and Iranian help, regime forces have cut the rebels’ main lifeline in…
Russian influence over Hizbullah may reduce chances of escalation with Israel
Yaakov Lappin, Tel Aviv – IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly The IDF believes that the Russian…
DEA and European Authorities Uncover Massive Hizballah Drug and Money Laundering Scheme
This investigation is a result of leads developed during the investigation into the Lebanese Canadian…
A Shi’ite genie has escaped the bottle – and is threatening Hezbollah
The leader of the Shi’ite sector in Lebanon, Musa al-Sadr, mysteriously disappeared in Libya in…
Kuwait Olympic COmmittee fails to forestall int’l sports suspension – PAS
KUWAIT, Jan 21 (KUNA) — The Kuwait Olympic Committee (KOC) has failed to fulfil its…
The Execution of Sheikh al-Nimr: A Saudi Need for Reassessment
The immediate price of such actions may be the further alienation of an important component…
The Elysée supports Ali Bongo
France is trying to catch up on Prime Minister’s Valls blunder on a TV show…
A House Divided: Words of Warning to my Nephew, the Supreme Leader
Said Seraj Mirdamadi has been imprisoned in Iran since May 2014 on charges of threatening…
Jean Ping candidate in Gabon’s presidential elections “to preserve family interests”!
Former foreign minister Jean Ping will officially announce his candidacy for the presidential election of…
The Shah of Iran, the Islamic Revolution and the Mystery of the Missing Imam
Imam Moussa al-Sadr, an Iranian-born cleric, in the 1970s. Mr. Sadr, who lived in…
Saudi King to Abdicate to Son
By Ali AlAhmed Washington DC – Saudi King Salman Al-Saud plans to abdicate his throne…
Aliyah from Western Europe hits all-time high
It would be a great loss- human, cultural, scientific, and religious- for Europe (France in…
Turkey’s New Base in Qatar
Having a permanent military foothold in the Gulf will put Turkey in an elite group…
Saudi Defense Minister Visits Pakistan to Repair Strained Relations
The prince’s latest foreign policy initiative is to confer with Islamabad, presumably seeking help with…
Saudi Arabia uses soccer to isolate Iran
Saudi Arabia is using soccer and its influence in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to…
The Die Is Cast: The Kurds Cross the Euphrates
Although the latest Kurdish offensive runs the risk of spurring direct Turkish intervention, it could…
If North Korea Didn’t Detonate a Hydrogen Bomb, Then What Was It?
A tritium device, maybe … or maybe not Robert Beckhusen North Korea claimed to…
FIFA Ethics Committee Investigatory Chamber recommend nine-year-ban for Valcke
By Liam Morgan The Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee has recommended suspended secretary…
Riyadh’s Message Is to Washington as Well as Tehran
Unless the Obama administration demonstrates stronger resolve in responding to Iranian aggression, the Saudis and…
Hezbollah Fighters Are Fed Up With Fighting Syria’s War
The Assad regime in Damascus has depended on Lebanon’s Army of God to shore up…
Soccer: Iranian moderates and hardliner lock horns on the pitch
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suffered in the run-up to crucial elections in early 2016 what…
U.S. Pursued Secret Contacts With Assad Regime for Years
Effort to limit violence and get president to relinquish power failed By NOUR MALAS and CAROL…
Hezbollah’s Russian Military Education in Syria
Working alongside Russian forces will likely enhance the group’s ongoing shift toward a more offensive-minded…
Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini Are Barred From Soccer for 8 Years
By SAM BORDEN Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, two of the most powerful figures in…
Investor in Leb. Canadian Bank Files Suit against Former Managers, Lebanese Regulatory Official, Hezbollah Operatives
NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Four years after the United States Treasury and…
Report: Kuntar planning major terror attack on Israel when he was killed
Notorious terrorist was reportedly deemed a ‘ticking bomb’ by Israel and the West; rejected by…
Russia’s Lethal S-400 Missile Goes Global
India buys the Triumf, which can kill everything that’s not stealth within 155 miles India…
Algeria’s Next Succession: Preparing for a Post-Bouteflika World
Foreign Affairs Although Algerians are lukewarm to the prospect of a managed succession, they…
The Struggle for Azaz Corridor Could Spur a Turkish Intervention
As various forces converge against the main rebel supply line in northern Syria, Russia’s wooing…
Olympic powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad to appeal 6-month sentence
By Hussain Al-Qatari | AP December 11 KUWAIT CITY — A Kuwaiti sheikh who is a major…
Evaluating the Russian Intervention in Syria
ARON LUND On November 14, the International Syria Support Group, a gathering of nations meeting…
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s grandson to enter Iran politics
Hassan Khomeini has made himself unpopular wuith hardliners by suggesting his grandfather’s revolution was hijacked…
Egypt’s Got Plans for Libya- Eradicate Islamists, for starters
Nicholas Linn Egypt’s got plans for Libya — to eradicate the Islamists and set it…
When Russia howls, Turkey Moves
Of Turkey’s near-dozen neighbors, there is just one that Ankara really fears: Russia. This is…
Lebanon’s nuncio visits Muslim bomb victims, stresses nation’s diversity
The Vatican’s nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, center, visits a hospitalized victim of the…
The modern making of Turkish Alevi Islam
A protester in Istanbul holds a sign reading ‘Alevism is my right.’ William Armstrong…
De Klerk: Without two-state solution, Israel could turn into apartheid state
South Africa’s last white president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Frederik Willem de Klerk urges…
Syrian government territorial gains just 0.4% since Russian military intervention
Columb Strack – Senior Analyst, Middle East & North Africa at IHS Syrian government forces…
The Paris Response: Answering Urgent Questions in the Anti-ISIS Fight
James F. Jeffrey, Matthew Levitt, Fabrice Balanche, and Anna Borshchevskaya As the United States…
The ‘Spruance’ Precedent
Proposed sale of the Littoral Combat Ship to Saudi Arabia recalls arms deals with the…
Hollande Blames ISIS for ‘Act of War’ on Paris
By ADAM NOSSITER and AURELIEN BREEDENNOV. 14, 2015 SLIDE SHOW|10 Photos PARIS —…
Israeli author Amos Oz declines to participate in official events
Israel Prize winner tells Foreign Ministry that he will not participate in state-sponsored events held…
Diverging Saudi and Emirati priorities will likely undermine campaign in Yemen, sustaining threat of jihadist expansion
Meda Al Rowas – IHS Jane’s Intelligence Review Key Points The Saudi-led coalition is struggling…
New Kuwaiti Survey Reveals Sectarian Divide, Concerns About Iran
A rare commercial public opinion poll completed in Kuwait in September exposes significant rifts in…