U.S.- Saudi Relations Face Difficult Questions
Despite Washington’s efforts to persuade its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allies that a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran would serve their long-term interests, most Gulf Arab monarchs remain far from sold. In addition to economic concerns about the potential reintegration of Iranian gas…
Deal With Iran Could Turn Middle East Into a Nuclear Tinderbox
With the deadline for signing a nuclear deal with Iran looming on 30th June, there is increasing frustration that President Obama seems to be committing to too many concessions and weakening the West’s approach to the Iranian regime.
A Study in Contrasts: Militaries in Political Transitions in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa – Analysis
The Economist recently highlighted the contrast between post-revolt Asian societies and Middle Eastern and North African societies in the woes of a pro-longed, messy and bloody transition that is pockmarked by revolt and counter-revolt, sectarianism, the redrawing of post-colonial borders, and the rise of retrograde groups as revolutionary forces.
In Hostage-terrorist Policy Shift, Obama Admits Failures
President Obama said Wednesday that his administration had too often failed the families of American hostages held overseas by groups like the Islamic State, announcing a policy overhaul that will publicly state for the first time that the United States government can communicate and negotiate with hostage takers.
Why an Arms Control Pact Has Security Experts Up in Arms
Security researchers say a proposed set of export rules meant to restrict the sale of surveillance software to repressive regimes are so broadly written that they could criminalize some research and restrict legitimate tools that professionals need to make software and computer systems more secure.
How a New Jordanian Flag Challenges ISIS
Every spring, Jordan marks two national holidays that put the iconography of the state on proud display. May 25 is Independence Day, which fetes the 1946 formal (if not actual) termination of British colonial control and the establishment of an independent state.
Islamic State Retreat Gives Turkey an Unwanted Kurdish Neighbor
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is getting the buffer zone he’s campaigned for along the Syrian border. But instead of the rebels he favors, it’s controlled by Kurdish fighters Turkey brands as terrorists.
New Pentagon Manual Declares Journalists Can Be Enemy Combatants
The Pentagon’s new thick book of instructions for waging war the legal way says that terrorists also can be journalists. The description appears in a 1,176-page, richly footnoted “Department of Defense Law of War Manual” that tells commanders the right and wrong way to kill the enemy.
The Grand Dilemma: What Is the Most Dangerous Threat to America?
From ISIS and Iran, to China and Russia, which threat should America focus on? In formulating its defense policy, the United States has to face four separate security challenges simultaneously: China, Russia, Iran, and Sunni jihadism. This is very different from the Cold War era when…
America’s Return to Iraq
President Barack Obama’s decision to increase the number of American troops on the ground in Iraq, and to base them in Sunni-dominated Anbar province, has sparked wide discussion. In the United States, the public debate has turned to the lessons of Vietnam, where incremental deployments led to…
