Middle East

Iran Revolution Commemoration Exposes Insecurity

By Barbara Slavin

Someday, Feb. 11 may be celebrated in Iran as a normal national holiday, akin to France’s Bastille Day or the US Fourth of July. Alas, judging from this year’s official festivities, the anniversary of the 1979 revolution remains the occasion for a show of propaganda rather than a reflection of Iran’s hard-won independence.

In Homs, UN Convoy Meets Syria’s Total War

By Alex Simon

By Syrian standards, the violence in the Old City of Homs this weekend was nothing out of the ordinary. Fourteen were killed and dozens injured as mortar shells and sniper fire targeted international vehicles seeking to evacuate civilians and deliver aid to thirteen neighborhoods that have been under government siege for nearly a year and […]

A Mideast Watershed: The End of US Domination?

A 35-Year Pax Americana is waning, says former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren The recent years’ decline of US power and assertiveness in the Middle East has created a power vacuum there that may end 35 years of American pre-eminence in the region, said Michael Oren, Israeli historian and former ambassador to the United States. “While […]

YemenSource | Six Regions Approved For Federal Transition

By YemenSource

The Regions Committee assembled by President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi has agreed on six regions for Yemen’s federated state.

The Strategy of Egypt’s Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis

By David Barnett

“Stay away from the installations and headquarters of the Ministries of Defense and Interior.” This was the warning issued to Egyptian Muslims by the Salafi jihadist group known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) when it took credit for a September suicide car bombing that targeted Egypt’s Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim in Cairo.

Security and Development Needed To Boost Tunisia’s Transition

By Ilana Hosios

Tunisia’s security seems relatively stable, especially when compared to the region. Yet, the reality on the ground is that of an uncertain and increasingly volatile environment.