Arab World

By Sam Heller | ( RFE/RL ) | – – When the self-proclaimed Islamic State declared the establishment of a global Muslim “caliphate” in 2014, the move accelerated a race for legitimacy within the international jihadist movement. IS’s rival Al-Qaeda — which had long held out a righteous Islamic state as a far-off ideal, not […]

Iraq

Baghdad Locals Fear Shiite-On-Shiite Violence As Alliance Fractures

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Protests and suicide bombings have caused tension within the Shiite Muslim alliance that’s been fighting extremists. As neighbourhoods are taken over by militias, locals fear intra-sectarian fighting. Abu Fatima al-Budairi is a member of the powerful Badr Organization, one of the largest Shiite Muslim militias […]

Egypt

Is it ISIL? US Official Says Likely Explosion Happened on EgyptAir Plane

contributors

TeleSur | – – EgyptAir said the plane’s emergency devices sent a distress signal at 4.26 a.m. local time, about two hours after the previously stated radar contact. A senior U.S. Intelligence official familiar with the U.S.’s capabilities in the region told NBC News that infrared and multi-spectral imagers strongly suggest there was an explosion […]

Featured

Baghdad takes Rutba from ISIL: Jordan-Iraq Commercial Route to Reopen

Juan Cole

by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi forces have taken Rutba in al-Anbar province, hundreds of kilometers west of the provincial capital, Ramadi, which is also now in government hands (though much of its population is displaced). Only a few dozen Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) forces were in Rutba in the end and […]

Displaced and Refugees

Saudi bombing, Rebel Shelling leave 7 Million in Yemen Food Insecure

contributors

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage | (Inter Press Service) | – – John Ging, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs briefs journalists on his recent trip to Yemen. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas John Ging, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs briefs journalists on his recent trip to Yemen. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas UNITED NATIONS, May […]

Displaced and Refugees

Give Syria’s Survivors a Voice

contributors

By Hadeel al-Shalchi | ( Human Rights Watch ) | – – Twelve days ago Fatema Qaitani, a 35-year-old mother of four, was sitting in a tent teaching her daughter how to read when her life was changed forever. Fatema’s tent, one of many that sprang up in a camp for displaced Syrians on the […]

Arab Spring

The Biggest threat to the Mideast isn’t ISIL, it’s bad, Corrupt Governance

contributors

By Marwan Muasher | (Project Syndicate) | – – WASHINGTON, DC – A recent survey of 100 Arab thought leaders conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace revealed a sweeping consensus about what underlies many of the region’s problems: a lack of good governance. Indeed, those polled emphasized domestic problems resulting from that failure […]

Corruption

The Danger Of Dictatorship: How To Replace Iraq’s Flawed Political System?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Iraq’s Parliament has failed its people. This was the message from protestors last week. But what could possibly replace the flawed system? Each potential solution comes with its own dangers. Protestors left Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone last week, after having spent two days expressing […]

Development

Surprise! Despite Syria-Iraq Turmoil, Major Mideast Economies growing 3-4%

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – When you only hear bad news from a place, you form a negative opinion of it. But when I went looking for news about the economies of the most populous Middle Eastern countries, I was surprised to find that the IMF and/or World Bank is seeing […]