Fractured Iraqi Shia Militias in Syria
In the midst of the civil war in Iraq, and as ISIL was threatening the central government in Baghdad, why were Iraqi Shias prioritizing Syria instead of defending Baghdad?
In the midst of the civil war in Iraq, and as ISIL was threatening the central government in Baghdad, why were Iraqi Shias prioritizing Syria instead of defending Baghdad?
Are the United States and Iran preparing to go to war? The prospect has certainly advanced considerably since Donald Trump became president and, particularly, when he withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement.
Iran has provided support to Shia and Sunni Afghan militants for four decades, increasing its presence to fill the power vacuum.
The Zeinabiyoun Brigade remains one of the least known and most understudied foreign Shia militias operating in Syria.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent international tour – beginning with contentious meetings in North Korea and ending at the controversial NATO summit in Brussels – included a less dramatic but nonetheless very important stop in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
On July 9, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a historic peace accord and a set of trade and security agreements ending a long-running conflict that has been a key regional fault line destabilizing the Horn of Africa.
On June 19, UAE-backed Yemeni forces announced that they had consolidated their control over Hodeidah airport after a week of fierce fighting with Houthi rebels for the facility as part of Operation Golden Victory, a military campaign for Hodeidah port and city.
Somewhere in Iran’s holy city of Qom the Islamic Republic is educating the next generation of Muslim revolutionaries: young people from all over the world lured to Iran by a mixture of idealism, adventure, and opportunism.
There was a time when Iran’s Major General Qassim Suleimani, chief of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was the ultimate kingmaker in Iraqi politics.
Bahrain’s free trade agreement with the United States might give Manama a golden opportunity to attract foreign capital and produce a diverse range of merchandise exports.
Learn MoreThrough its careful examination of the forces shaping the evolution of Gulf societies and the new generation of emerging leaders, AGSIW facilitates a richer understanding of the role the countries in this key geostrategic region can be expected to play in the 21st century.
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