Category: Islamists

Transatlantic democracies in rift over strategy to counter Iran’s ‘malign activities’

     

The Iran-Saudi rivalry, which, since 2011, has dominated the Middle East and pervaded its wars, can be interpreted in geopolitical and sectarian terms, notes Katerina Dalacoura, associate professor of international… Read more »

Tunisia’s resilient democracy ‘at a critical inflection point’

     

  Thousands gathered Monday in Tunisia’s capital as the country marked eight years since a democratic uprising ousted its long-time strongman. The rally came amid deepening economic troubles in the… Read more »

Austerity squeeze: middle class discontent stirs memories of Arab Spring

     

A wave of economic austerity is squeezing the Arab world’s middle class, pushing a segment of society that is key to growth and stability into making painful cutbacks and fueling… Read more »

Two Decades of Combating Terrorism: a ‘democracy advantage’?

     

  Nearly four times as many Sunni Islamic militants are operating around the world today as on Sept. 11, 2001, despite nearly two decades of American-led campaigns to combat Al… Read more »

Saudis and Iran using sectarian non-state actors to shape Middle East

     

The Saudi-Iran rivalry playing out in the Middle East’s divided societies, such as the ‘proxy arenas’ of Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, and particularly Syria and Yemen, has cultivated sectarian difference that… Read more »

Terrorism vs. the West: an age of extremes

     

Western democracies experienced 68 terrorist attacks in 2017, highlighting a threat increasingly generated not by a single form of extremism but by various extremist ideologies, according to a new analysis…. Read more »

Arab world needs democracy, not ‘liberalizing autocrats’

     

In April Jamal Khashoggi gave a speech, saying the dangerous idea of the benevolent autocrat, the just dictator, is being revived in the Arab world, notes The New York Times…. Read more »

Iranian actions ‘actively threaten’ Iraqi democracy

     

The United States announced last month that it intends to keep troops in Syria to support Kurdish-led fighters there until the Islamic State has been completely routed and the area stabilized, notes… Read more »

‘Flawed strategy’ failing to counter Islamist extremism

     

The threat from Islamist militants is growing and the current approach for tackling the threat will fail unless there is a global strategy to tackle the roots of extremism, says… Read more »