Is this the real Gaza ceasefire?

by Mitchell Plitnick Israel and Hamas have agreed to another ceasefire, and there seems to be some sense that this one will last. The terms of the agreement leave many issues up in the air, which tends to work strongly in Israel’s… Continue Reading

The Middle East’s Unfinished Wars

James A. Russell The predictions of doom in the Middle East that are dominating thinking in the foreign policy commentariat of Washington and other capitals over the spread of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) could use a… Continue Reading

Israel’s “Qualitative Military Edge”: Blank Checks, No Balance?

by Marsha B. Cohen This month the Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration had slowed the shipment of Hellfire missiles to Israel after it bombed a UN school in Gaza on Aug. 3 with the US-made weapon. The… Continue Reading

Why Washington’s War on Terror Failed

The Underrated Saudi Connection by Patrick Cockburn [This essay is excerpted from the first chapter of Patrick Cockburn’s new book, The Jihadis Return: ISIS and the New Sunni Uprising, with special thanks to his publisher, OR Books. The first section is a new introduction… Continue Reading

Obama Mulling Broader Strikes Against ISIS?

by Jim Lobe This week’s video-taped beheading of a U.S. journalist by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has spurred renewed calls for President Barack Obama to broaden Washington’s military efforts to strike the terrorist group, including in… Continue Reading