Arab World

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russia is so far winning big in Syria, and making Moscow’s projection of force in the Middle East a reality that the other great powers have to recognize. As Russia has emerged as a major combatant against Syrian al-Qaeda and against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), it is […]

Arab Spring

Tahrir 5 Years Later: The Hurdles to Democratization & Arab Youth Revolts

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A frequently met-with Western political and often journalistic narrative of the 2011 youth revolts in the Arab world is that idealistic young people came out into the streets and managed to overthrow four dictators, but then the essential Arab nature (violent, fanatical, tribal and sectarian) came […]

Iraq

The Kurdish Women fighters taking on Daesh/ ISIL: An Eyewitness Account

contributors

By Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | – – It was the sort of invitation that causes both excitement and trepidation, an invite to visit the autonomous mountain enclave in northern Iraq known as Kurdistan to carry out field research. It was exciting because we were being given an “inside track” to a moderate […]

Iraq

How Bad Is The Violence In Iraq?

contributors

AJ+ | (Video News Report) | – – “A UN report on the violence in Iraq from January 2014 to October 2015 makes for sober reading. 19,000 civilians were killed, 36,000 injured and 3,500 are being held hostage by ISIS. ” AJ+: “How Bad Is The Violence In Iraq?”

Featured

Turkey-Russia Tensions Spike as Russia moves into Northern Syria

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian air strikes in Syria are coming closer and closer to the Turkish border in Latakia in the northwest, and there are rumors that Russia is looking at establishing an airbase at Qamishli in the largely Kurdish northeast of Syria. Turkey risks having Russia as a […]

Arab Spring

5 Years after Tahrir Square, Egyptian Government in Crackdown on Dissent ahead of Jan. 25 Anniversary

contributors

Global Voices Advocacy’s Netizen Report | (Globalvoices.org) | – – Activists online and on the ground in Egypt have faced heightened scrutiny and legal threats from government authorities since early January, as the country approaches the fifth anniversary of the mass protest movement that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. In addition to multiple arrests of […]

Foreign Policy

The Collapsed Iraqi Army: How to Succeed at Failing, Pentagon-Style

contributors

By Nick Turse | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – There’s good news coming out of Iraq… again. The efforts of a 65-nation coalition and punishing U.S. airstrikes have helped local ground forces roll back gains by the [so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS). Government forces and Shiite militias, for example, recaptured the city of Tikrit, while […]

Chaldeans

UNESCO: “Deepest Concerns” for Mideast Christianity after Daesh/ISIL Razes oldest Iraqi Monastery

contributors

UNESCO | (Media Services) | – – “I express my deepest concerns after the destruction of the Monastery of St Elijah. It was the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq and an invaluable testimony to the rich cultural and religious diversity of the country. For 1,400 years the monastery stood as a place of worship and […]