via LobeLog
by Julien Barnes-Dacey
The designation of Haider al-Abadi as the new prime minister of Iraq is a significant step toward opposing the Islamic State if his premiership can be secured and fulfils the potential to create an urgently needed cross-sectarian coalition against the jihadist group.
However, a fundamental ingredient is still missing in [...]
via LobeLog
by Derek Davison
Over the next few months, citizens in several Middle Eastern countries will take to the polls in a series of elections that will have a good deal to say about the direction the region’s politics will take. From Turkey, to Syria, to Iraq, to Egypt, there is [...]
by Jim Lobe
via IPS News
Despite Thursday’s announcement that President Barack Obama has decided to provide direct military assistance to Syrian rebels, what precisely the administration has in mind remains unclear.
Analysts here are also questioning whether the decision is part of a deliberate strategy – and, if so, what that strategy [...]
via Lobe Log
As former top State Department intelligence specialist Wayne White points out for Lobe Log, in the absence of a tenable ceasefire agreement, the quagmire that is the Syrian civil war will likely intensify, thereby only worsening post-Assad scenarios.
“The bottom line is that a sort of Catch-22 situation is [...]
Reposted by arrangement with Think Progress
Every problem in the Middle East must look like a nail to some neoconservatives because they always want to bring out the big hammer of the U.S. military. That was the case today on Fox News when Jonathan Schanzer, the vice president of research at the [...]
It has finally happened. After thousands of anti-regime protestors have been killed and thousands more have been arrested and forced from their homes in less than one year, the Obama administration has called for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
What accounts for the delay and the finalizing of the U.S. government’s wishy-washy [...]
Posted with the permission of Think Progress
The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin has a history of never missing an opportunity to criticize the White House, but her post today, “Obama tolerates terror operations run out of Syria’s embassy,” provides yet another example of Rubin’s loose relationship [...]
As the Syrian government’s brutal crackdown on anti-regime protestors intensifies and President Bashar al-Assad faces increasing criticism from allies, many are watching Iran’s response. Will the isolated Islamic Republic support its important friend until the end or distance itself from the Syrian regime’s sinking ship?
According to Iranian-Israeli Middle East analyst Meir Javedanfar: “[t]he moment [...]
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