Middle Orient

Americans Murdering People & Dear Children In the Middle East and Africa Hasn’t Mattered – Not Yet!

The issue of deadly racism in the USA has been brought to the attention of all Americans by the persistent efforts of impassioned activists, especially by carrying placards with photographs of African-American victims of deadly police actions. Article suggests how the greater toll of darker skinned people murdered by Americans …

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Putin Considers Slamming Door On Iran And Opening Window For Israel – OpEd

A remarkable meeting occurred in January between Syrian and Israeli officials at the Russian base near Latakia in western Syria. It appears to have been precipitated by Israeli concerns about the increasing sophistication of high-precision Iranian missiles and drones in Tehran’s satellite states. Israel wanted to convey the message to …

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Turkey Signals Sweeping Regional Ambitions – Analysis

A nationalist Turkish television station with close ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dug up a 12-year-old map that projects Turkey’s sphere of influence in 2050 as stretching from South-eastern Europe on the northern coast of the Mediterranean and Libya on its southern shore across North Africa, the Gulf …

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Russia equipping Syria air base to receive nuclear bombers

Russia has been developing the Hmeimim Air Base in Latakia in western Syria in preparation for it to receive strategic nuclear bombers as part of plans to strengthen the Russian presence in the country, Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported. The paper said Russia is modernising the Hmeimim Air Base by rebuilding …

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In Iraq, Advocates Aim to Reform Education to Build Collective Identity

Iraq’s diverse groups have long been pitted against each other. A USIP partner is looking to change that through curriculum reform. Vida Hanna, a director for public relations at Catholic University in Erbil, recalled the first week of her first-grade year when a classmate called her a kafir, or an …

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What is Russia’s Endgame in Syria?

Lacking better options, Russia appears to be pursuing a ‘spheres of influence’ model. Five years into Russia’s military intervention in Syria, understanding Moscow’s endgame could provide critical insights into the decade-long conflict’s trajectory, as well as Russia’s posture in the Middle East and beyond. Although still evolving and subject to …

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Killings on the rise in Syria’s al-Hol camp

There were far more deaths than usual in the camp for Islamic State families in January amid calls from the United Nations and Kurdish forces for countries to take back their citizens. There was a deadly uptick in violence in the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria last month. A …

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UAE dismantling base in Eritrea following drawdown in Yemen

Images from The Associated Press show vehicles and structures being removed from the Emirates’ military base. The United Arab Emirates is dismantling its military base on the Horn of Africa. The move follows the UAE’s lessening involvement in the Yemeni civil war. Satellite images obtained by The Associated Press show …

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