Internally, Sistani’s words directly addressed the fractured Iraqi political class. They are helping reunite Iraq’s dithering Shi’a factions under the strategic priority of fighting terrorism, and boosting moderate Sunnis.
One thing this is definitely not about: the wishes of the Iraqi people. Local Sunni citizens who are the alleged beneficiaries of these rebels are not polled – they are merely brainwashed, bribed, expelled, beaten, or killed.
Just as the final U.S. troops are withdrawing, and just as the world’s attention is diverted on Syria and elsewhere, Iraq may steal the limelight a final time and bow and declare: before long, she may not be anymore.
Turkey had been everyone’s friend as long as its foreign policy was driven by business and economic interest. Over the last couple of years, however, its ‘zero problems’ strategy has become more rhetoric than reality.
The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki has dealt Al-Qaeda a major blow, but the more profound challenge to the terrorist group emanates from the spirit of the Jasmine revolutions.
In today's security briefing, Jaffar Al-Rikabi argues that rival interventions by outside powers threaten to intensify violence in Syria. Meanwhile, a gas discovery in the Eastern Mediterranean may add to disputes in the region.
Oil is perhaps the most commonly cited factor in explaining the course of the various Arab revolutions in train since the Spring, but compared across countries its influence proves less decisive than generally suggested, argues Jaffar Al-Rikabi.
As Ramadan begins, we look at how the Arab Spring turns into an Arab Summer with increasingly messy situations in Syria, Bahrain, Libya, and beyond. This and more in today's security briefing...
Norway's response so far holds the hope of a measured counter-terrorism strategy. But the media and policy makers elsewhere also need to maintain a measured approach to terrorist attacks, argues Jaffar Al-Rikabi.
US and Iraqi leaders discuss future Status of Forces Agreement for Iraq. Syrian tanks and troops deployed to Homs. Rumours of Mubarak coma denied as protestors fill Tahrir square. All in today's security briefing.
Despite protests and intense political pressure on Prime Minister Maliki’s coalition government, reforms in Iraq are likely to be slow, sporadic and contradictory. Meaningful reform is undermined by a political system that fosters immobility, an incompetent and politicised bureaucracy, corruption
