Spotlight on the Islamic State

by Wayne White The extraordinarily gruesome execution of the Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh generated intense regional backlash against the self-anointed Islamic State (ISIS or IS). However, aside from Jordan, this affair may not translate into a major increase in military… Continue Reading

New Israeli Elections Offer Little Hope For Change

by Mitchell Plitnick The Israeli government is headed for yet another round of elections. Although the official election date for the next Knesset is November 7, 2017, no one ever expected this government to last that long. The voting will likely… Continue Reading

The Collapse of Order in the Middle East

by Chas Freeman* Will Rogers once observed that “when you get into trouble 5,000 miles from home, you’ve got to have been looking for it.”  It’s a good deal more than 5.000 miles to Baghdad or Damascus from here.  And,… Continue Reading

Fighting for Democracy While Supporting Autocracy

ISIS and Bahrain’s F-16 by Matar E. Matar For the second time in recent history, the United States is trading away support for democracy and fundamental human rights protections in Bahrain as part of an effort to establish democracy and… Continue Reading

Why Obama Couldn’t Do Anything on Iran While Ross Was There

by Jim Lobe Following up on Paul Pillar’s excellent takedown of Dennis Ross’s remarkably crude display of Islamophobia (whereby Saudi Arabia is considered a “non-Islamist state,” while Syria’s Baathist regime is “Islamist”), it seems we can add Iranophobia to the… Continue Reading