Building an Unlikely Coalition Against ISIS

by Thomas W. Lippman Throughout the Middle East, television news broadcasts on state-owned channels have always featured what Western journalists ridicule as “coming and going stories”—a delegation from some country or organization arrives, the delegation meets the king or president,… Continue Reading

ISIS Carrying Out Ethnic Cleansing on “Historic Scale”

by Jim Lobe While the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama ponders broader actions against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Amnesty International Tuesday accused the group of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Iraq on a “historic scale.”

Libyan Crisis Fails to take Center Stage

by Wayne White Armed Islamist militants have gained ground rapidly in ongoing clashes in Libya, making an already serious situation a lot more ominous. A military attempt to crush the militants early this year has clearly backfired. Islamists are in… 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

A Proposed UNSC Ceasefire Plan For Gaza

by Mitchell Plitnick The attempt to resolve the ongoing, albeit highly uneven, exchange of fire between Israel and Gaza has now reached the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The draft proposal, initially pushed by the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, bears… Continue Reading