Iraq

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Mar 15, 2025, 10:20 AM

Take Out Iran Now, Hamas After

It’s vital not to get distracted by lesser jobs. Toppling the Islamist regime in Iran is the crucial task. Hamas can be finished off later. We must not bury our head in the sand of Gaza at this time. We...

Mar 11, 2025, 8:12 PM

A Gathering Storm: The Threat from Turkey in Syria

I recently penned an article detailing the strategic threat from Turkey. In this second part of that story, I explore recent developments that, coupled with Erdoğan’s imperial ambitions, complex alliances and old rivalries, internal Turkish politics and, finally, military...

Feb 28, 2025, 6:50 PM

Once Neighbors, Now Strangers: Can Jews Walk Iraq’s Streets Again?

Children in an Iraqi Jewish school in Baghdad 1959. Source: Maurice shohet, the Iraqi Jewish Archive.

Imagine a Friday evening in Baghdad. The sun dips below the Tigris, casting long shadows on the city’s old Jewish quarter. The scent of freshly baked bread lingers in the air. A family gathers around a table somewhere, lighting...

Feb 22, 2025, 7:40 PM

The Arab World’s Forgotten Jewish Past

Ruins of Sassoun Synagogue in Old Mosul, the Jewish Quarter. ©Omar Mohammed, 2024

A quiet erasure has occurred across the Arab world. Once-thriving Jewish communities—whose histories stretch back millennia—have all but disappeared. Their homes stand empty; their synagogues lie in ruins, and their cemeteries are overgrown. Not only has their presence faded,...

Michael Arizanti

Jan 25, 2025, 10:33 AM

Double Standards in Supporting Extremism: The Case of Israeli PKK Supporters

The growing support among Israeli politicians, researchers and activists for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) represents a profound moral and strategic failure that threatens regional stability and exposes a dangerous double standard in counterterrorism approaches. The PKK is not a...

Christian Rudolf Hamann

Jan 24, 2025, 2:07 AM

Staging an Unsustainable Ceasefire

Because no effective concept against hostage-taking1) has been developed in decades, around 3,000 terrorists are now being released from Israeli prisons in exchange for 98 hostages2) - an encouragement to continue. But the Islamists' goal is not a Palestinian state...

James M. Dorsey

Jan 14, 2025, 10:31 PM

The Middle East’s New Jigsaw Puzzle

Decimating Hezbollah and ousting President Bashar al-Assad were the first steps in a Middle Eastern power struggle that is likely to define not only who wields the most influence in Syria but also who will emerge as regional hegemons. Turkey,...

Jan 10, 2025, 5:13 PM

Could Syrian history surpasses its future?

Tracing history sometimes allows us to better understand today's events and anticipate those that might occur later. What is happening in Syria today is not isolated from the conflicts and instability happening around it, and no neighboring country in...

Jan 9, 2025, 11:39 PM

Why the federal model is unsuitable for Syria, just as it failed in Iraq

Israeli officials have called for dividing Syria into small autonomous regions and have proposed a federal model for the country. In the following article, I respond to these esteemed Israeli officials by explaining why the federal model is unsuitable...

James M. Dorsey

Jan 9, 2025, 10:28 PM

Iran fears setback may open a Pandora’s box

With Donald J. Trump two weeks away from returning to the White House, Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) fear that recent setbacks could open a Pandora’s box. Israel’s puncturing of Swiss cheese-sized holes in the Iran-backed Axis...

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