Riyadh is often accused of being too tolerant of jihadist groups and is looking to change that image by becoming an exemplary actor in the fight against Islamist extremism. At the end of March, Mohammed Bin Nayef, the kingdom’s crown…
Key Points AQAP is actively engaged in the Yemeni civil war alongside local Sunni tribes, embedding itself in local resistance forces fighting the Houthi Movement. By exploiting a persistent security vacuum and the absence of effective state institutions, AQAP is…
Key Points Diplomatic and economic relations with Saudi Arabia will decline further in 2017 as Egypt reassesses its domestic security requirements under its weak financial position. Cairo’s regional policy is likely to be motivated by a Russian-Iranian confrontation with Salafist-jihadist…
OPEC has agreed to reduce current production levels in the first such move since the 2008 global financial crisis. The deal marks a major reversal of the “free-for-all” market-share strategy that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states have adopted…
Jamestown: Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Dan Stav, announced, on November 6, that his country was “considering the possibility to transport its natural gas to Europe via the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline [TANAP] through Turkey.” Earlier, on October 14, Turkish…
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) officially launched its operation to take the city of Manbij on May 31. It is one of the most strategic and difficult operations the SDF – an alliance that includes Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG)…
In the four days of trading since the failed military coup the Turkish lira has weakened significantly and share prices have tumbled. The Central Bank of Turkey and the Treasury have been in the front line to reassure investors that the…
Some 150 agents have been sacked from the the Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (MIT), Turkey’s intelligence service, in a post-abortive coup purge that could even see MIT chief Hakan Fidan’s head also roll. The service has been accused of failing to anticipate and prevent…
Tehran has proposed a major plan to the Syrian government to reform its military along the lines of Iran’s. The high command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, or Pasdaran, recently presented its proposals for a profound reorganisation of the Syrian Army to…
The recent appointment of Moustafa al-Kazemi as the new head of the Iraqi intelligence service demonstrates the control Tehran now has over Baghdad’s security apparatus. Iran’s political and security apparatus has scored another victory in Iraq. Moustafa al-Kazemi, one of Tehran’s…