Posted on Tue, January 31, 2012 at 02:21 am CET
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Ankara and Baghdad: A Parting of Ways?

Until now, Turkey’s presence in Iraq has generally been encouraged by all major Iraqi groups… Continue reading

Topics: Economy • Iraq • Kurdish People • PKK • Politics • Security and Defense • Shia Islam • Sunni Islam • Turkey 
Posted on Wed, January 25, 2012 at 19:19 pm CET
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Obama’s State of the Union Speech: My Response Discovers Some Curious Insights and Strange Formulations

In his State of the Union message, President Barack Obama began by wrapping himself in the flag, patriotism, and love of the armed forces while trying to highlight his foreign policy achievements… Continue reading

Topics: Afghanistan • Al-Qaeda • Arab Spring • Diplomacy • Iraq • Politics • Security and Defense • U.S. Middle East Policy • United States of America • War on Terrorism 
Posted on Wed, January 25, 2012 at 16:51 pm CET
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America and the Arab Spring

A year ago this week, on January 25, 2011, the ground began to crumble under then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s feet… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Bahrain • Democracy • Egyptian Revolution • Human Rights • Iraq • Islamic Fundamentalism • Islamism • Israel • Jordan • Libya War • Muslim Brotherhood • Salafism • Syria • U.S. Middle East Policy • Yemen 
Posted on Sat, January 7, 2012 at 15:09 pm CET
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Identity Among Middle East Christians

In the course of the present unrest across the Middle East and North Africa… Continue reading

Topics: Christianity • Copts • Culture • Egypt • Human Rights • Iraq • Lebanon • Religion • Syria • The Middle East 
Posted on Fri, January 6, 2012 at 02:21 am CET
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What happens to terrorism suspect Ali Musa Daqduq: Will he be tried or be released?

Ali Daqduq was recently handed over to the Iraqi administration… Continue reading

Topics: Hezbollah • Iraq • Islamic Terrorism • Security and Defense • Shi'ism • U.S. Middle East Policy • War on Terrorism 
Posted on Wed, January 4, 2012 at 21:47 pm CET
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Sunni versus Shia: The Middle East’s New Strategic Conflict

Conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims are not at all new, but… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Egyptian Revolution • Iran • Iraq • Islamism • Jasmine Revolution • Lebanon • Libya War • Politics • Religion • Security and Defense • Shia Islam • Sunni Islam • Syrian Revolution • The Middle East 
Posted on Wed, December 14, 2011 at 19:18 pm CET
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My Critique of Two “Neo-Conservative” Presidents: Obama and Bush

A Huffington Post writer with no known expertise on the Middle East, has accused me of being not only an alarmist about revolutionary Islamism but also as a “neo-con… Continue reading

Topics: Culture • Democracy • Iran • Iraq • U.S. Middle East Policy • United States of America 
Posted on Sat, December 3, 2011 at 18:13 pm CET
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Overviewing Shi’a-Sunni Conflicts

As we approach the end of the first year of what has been called the Arab Spring… Continue reading

Topics: Alawis • Arab Spring • Bahrain • Culture • Iraq • Lebanon • Religion • Saudi Arabia • Security and Defense • Shia Islam • Sunni Islam • Syria • Yemen 
Posted on Mon, November 28, 2011 at 03:20 am CET
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WikiLeaks: Syria’s Proxy War in Iraq

The Islamists in Seidnaya responsible for the riots were part of a cadre of inmates sent to Iraq sometime after 2003 to fight with the insurgency… Continue reading

Topics: Anti-Americanism • Iraq • Security and Defense • Syria • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Sun, November 27, 2011 at 21:18 pm CET
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The Coming Oil-Shale Revolution?

To preface, when it comes to global petroleum supplies, a distinction is drawn between… Continue reading

Topics: Energy • Iraq • Islamism • OPEC • Saudi Arabia • United States of America • Wahhabism 
Posted on Sat, November 19, 2011 at 15:16 pm CET
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WikiLeaks: Syrian-Iranian Show of Solidarity Masks Tensions over Iraq, Yemen and War with Israel

Assad resisted Iranian arguments for closer bilateral coordination in Iraq and Yemen and flatly rejected being drawn into a war between Iran and Israel… Continue reading

Topics: Anti-Israelism • Diplomacy • Iran • Iraq • Syria • WikiLeaks • Yemen 
Posted on Wed, November 2, 2011 at 01:48 am CET
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King Abdallah of Jordan on How No One Trusts Obama’s Government

I think there is going to be less coordination with the West and therefore a chance of more misunderstandings… Continue reading

Topics: Iraq • Jordan • Syrian Revolution • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Sat, October 8, 2011 at 00:15 am CEST
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The Arab Spring and the Jews

Throughout the ongoing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Global Islam • Iraq • Jew-Hatred • Libya • Libya War • Morocco • Religion 
Posted on Sat, September 24, 2011 at 19:41 pm CEST
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President Talabani Addresses the General Debate of the 66th Session of the General Assembly

Iraq is building a homeland where everyone lives in peace and stability without regard to sectarian, ethnic or factional affiliations… Continue reading

Topics: Iraq • United Nations 
Posted on Mon, September 12, 2011 at 22:51 pm CEST
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A Sectarian Issue

As Gaddafi’s regime crumbles, speculation has started to arise over whether the Syrian opposition will now be emboldened in their struggle against Assad… Continue reading

Topics: Alawis • Iraq • Lebanon • Syrian Revolution • Turkey 
Posted on Thu, August 18, 2011 at 10:25 am CEST
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Do Iraqi Documents Give Some Hints About the Iranian Regime’s Nuclear Strategy?

While an analogy doesn’t prove the point, I think that contemporary Iranian thinking is equivalent… Continue reading

Topics: Anti-Israelism • Iran • Iraq 
Posted on Sat, August 13, 2011 at 21:44 pm CEST
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The Big Split in the Revolutionary Islamist Movement: Sunni and Shia Blocs Emerge

A development of huge importance is happening in the Middle East, equivalent perhaps to the… Continue reading

Topics: Egyptian Revolution • GCC • Hamas • Iran • Iraq • Islamism • Lebanon • Muslim Brotherhood • Shia Islam • Sunni Islam • Syrian Revolution • Turkey 
Posted on Fri, August 12, 2011 at 18:21 pm CEST
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Spring comes, but not for Iraq’s Kurds

Amid widespread protests during this so-called “Arab Spring,” one place that has received relatively little media coverage is Iraqi Kurdistan… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Democracy • Iraq • Iraqi Kurdistan • Kurdish People • Kurdistan 
Posted on Fri, July 22, 2011 at 20:08 pm CEST
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Casual Hate: The Subtle Side of Christian Persecution

Earlier this month I participated in Coptic Solidarity’s Second Annual Conference in Washington D.C… Continue reading

Topics: Anti-Christianism • Copts • Egypt • Global Islam • Iraq • Jihadism 
Posted on Wed, April 13, 2011 at 00:49 am CEST
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WikiLeaks: U.S. Government Outlines ‘Dilemma’ in Event of Iraqi Crackdown on Iranian Dissidents

The Mujahedin e-Khalq faces a difficult position in Iraq as the Iraqi government has made clear it considers the group a terrorist organization… Continue reading

Topics: Iran • Iraq • U.S. Middle East Policy • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Wed, March 9, 2011 at 01:31 am CET
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WikiLeaks: Saudis fear ‘Shia triangle’ of Iran, Iraq and Pakistan

America is often portrayed as the big dog in Pakistan’s yard: a swaggering power that makes rules, barks orders and throws its weight around… Continue reading

Topics: Iran • Iraq • Pakistan • Saudi Arabia • Shia Islam • Sunni Islam • The Middle East • U.S. Middle East Policy • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Fri, March 4, 2011 at 20:11 pm CET
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WikiLeaks: Saudi Arabia Rated a Bigger Threat to Iraqi Stability than Iran

Iraqi government officials see Saudi Arabia, not Iran, as the biggest threat to the integrity and cohesion of their fledgling democratic state… Continue reading

Topics: Iran • Iraq • Kurdish People • Saudi Arabia • United States of America • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Tue, February 8, 2011 at 00:09 am CET
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WikiLeaks: The Egyptian View of the Middle East

WikiLeaks cable about Egyptian foreign policy: Cairo-Baghdad Relations, Iranian ‘devils’, Syria and Turkey… Continue reading

Topics: Arab League • Egypt • Iran • Iraq • Syria • The Middle East • Turkey • United States of America • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Thu, December 30, 2010 at 22:37 pm CET
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WikiLeaks: Ahmadinejad Ordered Capture of British Servicemen ‘For Domestic Reasons’

In conversations with foreign ministry officials in Brunei, US diplomats hear what their counterparts believe was behind the capture of 15 British servicemen and women by Iran earlier in the month. The Brunei officials say they think… Continue reading

Topics: Bahrain • Britain • Iran • Iraq • Oman • The Vatican • United States of America • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Wed, December 29, 2010 at 13:27 pm CET
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WikiLeaks: Iraqi PM Claims U.S. Oil Company in Contact with Iran

The US energy firm Chevron negotiated with Tehran about developing an Iraq-Iran cross-border oilfield in spite of tight US sanctions, according to the Iraqi prime minister in… Continue reading

Topics: Europe • Iran • Iraq • United States of America • WikiLeaks