Baghdadi’s Alive, and So Is Islamic State’s Narrative

by Giorgio Cafiero On April 29, the so-called caliph of Islamic State (ISIS or IS), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, appeared in an 18-minute propaganda video published by Al Furqan media network. In his first public appearance since the summer of 2014,… Continue Reading

Haftar’s Attempted Coup and Trump’s Collusion over Libya

by Imad K. Harb Khalifa Haftar, Libya’s renegade general and leader of the self-anointed Libyan National Army (LNA), appears adamant that only he can lead the country out of the darkness of the last few years. On April 4, he… Continue Reading

Signs of Redemption Amidst Arab Political Upheavals in the Age of Trump

by Emile Nakhleh The anti-regime convulsions currently underway in Algeria and Sudan are the latest version of an “Arab Spring” that erupted in 2011 and that Arab autocrats and their security regimes ultimately quashed. The massive street protests in Algeria… Continue Reading

War in Libya: A Rare Instance of U.S.-Russian Cooperation

by James M. Dorsey There is little that Russia and the United States agree on these days. Renegade Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar may be a rare exception. As Haftar’s mortars rained on the southern suburbs of the Libyan… Continue Reading