Arab World

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The paroxysms of hatred and bigotry spewed by the two GOP frontrunners in the 2016 presidential campaign probably do not need any pretext, since Trump and Cruz are clearly sadistic and unfair individuals. But the Brussels airport and metro attacks gave them another excuse to blame […]

Iraq

Remember: Refugees are fleeing ISIL; they aren’t ISIL

contributors

Kamal al-Ayash | (Niqash.org) | – – Getting from Turkey to Europe was a cakewalk compared to escaping the [so-called] Islamic State-run city of Fallujah, says one Iraqi. Fleeing families must cross a reservoir, in a ten-passenger boat, on an active battlefield. “Life had become impossible in the city of Fallujah,” Hamid Abu Ziad says. […]

Saudi Arabia

Is Saudi Arabia’s ‘Islamic’ Coalition against Terrorism a Paper Tiger?

Juan Cole

By Frud Bezhan | ( RFE/RL ) | – – Saudi Arabia made a splash when it announced the formation of a 34-country "Islamic" alliance against terrorism in December — and followed it up with a massive military exercise that ended last week. The mainly Sunni Muslim coalition — which includes regional power and NATO-member […]

Featured

Syria: Russia Targets Daesh in Palmyra despite Drawdown

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Despite the Russian announcement of a determination to withdraw the bulk of its air force from Syria, Moscow has underlined that some planes would remain and would continue to fly missions against groups the Russian Federation considers terrorists,including al-Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra) and Daesh (ISIL, ISIS). Thus, […]

Featured

Putin: Russia can ramp back up in Syria “within hours”

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat (Life) summarized Russian sources on Thursday’s speech by Russian president Vladimir Putin: Putin made several points: 1. Russia hopes that the ceasefire and Geneva peace negotiations can now go forward relatively smoothly toward a political settlement in Syria 2. Russia will continue […]

Russia

Putin’s Syria Gambit: Surprising Views of Russian Pundits on What Moscow Achieved

contributors

By Robert Coalson | ( RFE/RL ) | – – As Russian warplanes continued their partial withdrawal from Syria two days after President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly announced that Moscow's objectives in the country had been "generally accomplished," observers debated how the move changes the situation in the volatile region. Russian analysts are divided on what […]

Featured

Syria’s Kurds to declare Federal Province

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Syria’s Kurds have decided to declare a federal province in the northeast of the country and along the northern border with Turkey. Many Arab states are unitary rather than federal and for the most part provincial governors are appointed by the central government and the central […]

Arab Spring

Forgetting Tahrir: The Man on Horseback and the fate of Egypt’s Revolution

contributors

Neil Serougi | ( OpenDemocracy ) | – – Why would a country that showed itself so courageous in confronting Mubarak’s repression now be content to sacrifice its hard won gains, and accept a regime that has gone far further? KimBadawi/Getty Images. All rights reserved.What became of the Arab Spring? The heady optimism that saw […]

Russia

Why is Putin Really withdrawing from Syria?

contributors

By Alexander Titov | (The Conversation) | – – Back in September 30 2015, when Vladimir Putin unexpectedly announced the deployment of the Russian air force in Syria, the consensus was that this would prove to be a costly mistake. Critics argued that airstrikes alone would not make any tangible difference to the facts on […]