Even if war is not always good for business, it is at least a business. Whether dealing in arms, antiquities, oil, grain, taxes or international aid, the Islamic State is building the basis for the sort of exploitative economy whose inequities and corruption (ironically) helped its star rise among the poor and discontented.
Avinoam Bar-Yosef is the President and the Founding Director of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPI), an independent policy planning think tank based in Jerusalem.
As the level of Palestinian incitement calling for violence against Jews in Jerusalem increases, two terror attacks were implemented, Palestinian riots within the Holy City intensify, and Fatah called for a day of rage. The prospects for a Palestinian-Israeli peace seem more distant than ever.
In a new piece in the London Review of Books, Patrick Cockburn writes on the rise of the Islamic State — also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) — and elaborates in detail on the factors that have contributed to its military success in Syria and Iraq despite American air raids against the group since August of this year.
Akın Ünver sits down with Reza Akhlaghi of the Foreign Policy Association to discuss Turkey’s current foreign policy challenges and the situation in Kobane.
To say the least, the government of Turkey has long had a contentious relationship with the country’s Kurdish population.
Syrian Kurdish Leader Sherkoh Abbas calls on the U.S. to stop supporting the PYD and the Islamists in Syria. He rejects the replacement of one dictator for another and emphasized that the U.S. needs to stand behind those that support democracy and human rights within the country.
As a U.S. ally and member of NATO, Turkey has a large, well-trained, and well-funded military with more than a half-million personnel in uniform. It is also the only NATO nation that shares a border with both Iraq and Syria, where the Islamic State continues to take and hold significant territory.
The Egyptians may not be receiving fulsome applause at the U.N. this week for their diplomacy to date, but quietly, Israeli, Gulf, and American leaders are clapping, in large part due to Cairo’s reaffirmation of a hardline stance against Hamas this past summer.
The threat the Islamic State (IS) poses to Western nations is very real — witness in recent weeks the thwarting of a public beheading in Sydney, the raids on terrorist cells in Melbourne, raids in The Hague and Brussels, possible threats to subways in Paris and New York, and the recent averting of a terrorist plot in London.
As the deadly Ebola virus rips across West Africa causing death and civil unrest (i.e., due to the fear mongering that accompanies an epidemic) the fate of region remains at an impasse.
ISIS has killed more Muslims than Westerners. Even though the Western media has not covered them extensively, there are Muslims speaking out and fighting against ISIS. The West should do more to support them in their struggle.
With Al Houthi rebels overtaking Sanaa, a former advisor to Iranian President Khatami has declared that Iran is the new sultan of the Middle East. Iran has supported the Al Houthi rebels taking over Yemen, believing it will expand their sphere of influence at the expense of Saudi Arabia.
Obama and Netanyahu enjoyed a very cordial meeting this week at the White House. One hour later, the White House and the State Department issued a rebuke to continued settlement activity in East Jerusalem, employing particularly harsh language against Israel.
Qatar’s financial habits have been the subject of a lot of media coverage lately due to the successes of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and the setbacks the Syrian opposition actors the Gulf states were pinning their hopes on have suffered at the hands of ISIS. Kuwait, through its relative openness, plays a […]