Category: Middle East & North Africa
31 Articles
- Intelligence & National Security
- Middle East & North Africa
Precision and Peril: The Strategy and Consequences of Targeted Killings
When a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in January 2020, it propelled the practice of targeted killings into the global…
August 29, 2025
- Defense
- Middle East & North Africa
Intercepting Trouble: It’s Past Time for Integrated Air and Missile Defense in the Gulf
Although Iran coordinated its June 23 attack on a U.S. base in Qatar with Qatari and U.S. officials, and no one was killed, the event underscored two old truths about America’s…
July 16, 2025
- Environment and Biosecurity
- Middle East & North Africa
Captivated by Narcotics: How Captagon Undermines Syria’s Reconstruction Efforts
On December 8, 2024, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist militant group, captured Damascus after an eleven-day offensive against the incumbent regime. Former leader Bashar al…
June 24, 2025
- Gender, Identity, and Security
- Middle East & North Africa
They Who Have Seen Hell: The Forgotten Child Soldiers of the Yazidi Genocide
In August 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) unleashed a genocidal assault on the Yazidi community of Sinjar in northern Iraq. ISIS massacred Yazidi men and captured…
May 21, 2025
- Middle East & North Africa
- Race & Security
A Dangerous Echo of Iraq’s Past: Syria’s Minorities in a Post‑Assad Era
As Syria emerges from the shadow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the country faces a critical crossroads. The country’s transitional phase since December 2024 has become…
April 28, 2025
- Europe & Central Asia
- Middle East & North Africa
Türkiye’s Claim for Regional Leadership: Key Takeaways from the 2025 Antalya Diplomacy Forum
The world is in shambles. Can diplomacy mend what is broken? This was the central question underpinning the fourth edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF),…
April 19, 2025
- Middle East & North Africa
Small State Empowerment Through Power Competition: Qatari Hedging Between Iran and Saudi Arabia
A small peninsula nation in the Persian Gulf, Qatar geostrategically straddles Iran and Saudi Arabia’s power competition in the Middle East. Qatar navigates this…
April 18, 2025
- Middle East & North Africa
No Military Solutions in the Middle East? There Just Might Be
“There is no military solution to this conflict” is probably one of the most recognized lessons-turned-dicta in Middle East politics. And this is for good reason. Most…
January 23, 2025
- Environment and Biosecurity
- Middle East & North Africa
Drought in the Land of Plenty: The Impacts of Climate Change on Iraqi Security
Historically known as the land of the two rivers—the Tigris and the Euphrates, modern-day Iraq was the cradle of human civilization. The fertile soils of its rivers were where…
January 18, 2025
- Middle East & North Africa
A Pivot From Lebanon: Israel’s Renewed Focus on Syria
On November 27, 2024, at 4:00 AM, a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, brokered by the United States and France, was announced to take effect. The same day …
January 10, 2025