The group’s choice of targets is a clear sign of its intention to inflame Sunni/Alawite tensions, raise the price of Moscow’s intervention, and assert its symbolic leadership over the rebellion. On May 23, the Islamic State (IS) perpetrated suicide bombings in Tartus and Jableh, killing 154 people and wounding more than 300. This was the… Keep reading →
Ankara’s terrorist adversaries have expanded their destructive reach with mobile rocket launchers and other formidable weapons, so deterring the threat will require a similarly robust Turkish approach to procurement, development, and deployment of various military systems. Turkey’s civilian casualties from Islamic State (IS) rocket attacks recently hit double-digit numbers. Since January, some seventy of these… Keep reading →
While Washington and its coalition partners have begun to roll back some of the Islamic State’s territorial gains, what more can be done to defeat the group and, until then, protect civilians? On April 5, Matthew Levitt, Naomi Kikoler, and James Jeffrey addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Kikoler is the deputy director… Keep reading →
A new court decision could stunt exploitation of offshore gas reserves, open the possibility of a heavy punitive arbitration award, and hamper foreign investment in Israel. On March 27, the Israeli High Court passed a judgement condemning a key aspect of the government’s planned “framework” deal with energy companies hoping to tap the country’s largest… Keep reading →
Unfortunate civil unrest could emerge if the jihadist group continues targeting anti-government Turks and Moscow keeps its sights set on Erdogan and his party. In January 2016, The Washington Institute sponsored a daylong workshop on the challenges to U.S. policy in the Middle East posed by new trends in political ideology. This PolicyWatch is part… Keep reading →
If Moscow can get away with boldly flouting U.S. interests in a key American security zone such as the Middle East, where might it interfere next, and at what cost to the international security system? As Secretary of State John Kerry visits Germany for the 52nd Munich Security Conference this week, questions about Washington’s hesitant… Keep reading →
Regional regulators must take steps, as the Iraqi Central Bank has done, to wall off their financial systems from unlicensed or loosely regulated money remitters vulnerable to exploitation by the Islamic State. This week, the entity known as the Foreign Ministers of the Small Group of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL/Da’esh met in Rome… Keep reading →
Reversing the political, military, and ideological factors that led to the movement’s rise will require substantive projects that are as self-sustaining and nimble as IS has proven to be. The Islamic State brand is an ambitious and seductive vision that has proven to be a tremendous media success. Yet this vision is ultimately tethered to… Keep reading →
The executions earlier this month followed an upsurge in convictions in the Specialized Criminal Court. On Tuesday, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri responded to Saudi Arabia’s execution of forty-seven people on terrorism charges by urging Saudis to overthrow their royal family. The January 2 executions continue to stir debate about why the death sentences were carried… Keep reading →
The end of diplomatic relations between the Persian Gulf’s two major powers following the execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr and forty-six others on terrorist charges lead to a fall in oil prices on Monday. Analysts had expected prices to increase as OPEC became embroiled in a sharp division between two of its… Keep reading →
