Memorial Day was first observed in 1868 as a way to remember those who died while serving in our nation’s armed services. News segments and documentaries recognizing those who made the ultimate sacrifice pepper the television networks, but are little watched as…
Derasat in the News
Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Missned, one of most influential women in the Arab world, attacks ‘double standards’, comparing Charlie Hebdo with Chapel Hill. Muslims face dehumanisation when western countries apply double standards…
Whenever I am asked what topic of research I focus on, the response is usually the same. “You know that will never happen, right?” The long aspired to and elusive goal of establishing a weapons of mass destruction free zone in the Middle East is generally seen as unrealistic, a naïve vision that…
Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, a priority of U.S. policy has been to reduce the perceived threat posed by Iran to a broad range of U.S. interests, including the security of the Arabian Gulf region. In 2014, a common adversary emerged in the form of the Islamic State organization…
The Arab world is a pluralistic region that lacks pluralism — the ability to manage and embrace differences peacefully. As such, the Middle East’s pluralistic character — Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Christians, Druze, Alawites, Jews, Copts, Yazidis, Turkmen and an array of…
A suicide bombing in Saudi Arabia as it presses on with its war against Shi’ite fighters in Yemenhas exposed the Sunni kingdom’s failure to curb sectarianism at home and prompted fears that such tensions can only get worse.
American intelligence analysts have identified seven buildings in downtown Raqqa in eastern Syria as the main headquarters of the Islamic State. But the buildings have gone untouched during the 10-month allied air campaign.
In the early morning of May 9, 2008, the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah dispatched hundreds of heavily armed fighters to Beirut, and within twelve hours it had altered Lebanon’s political balance. Hezbollah and its allies quickly routed Sunni militiamen, took control of their political offices, and…
Last week I began this series with a Net Assessment of the World, in which I focused on the growing destabilization of the Eurasian land mass. This week I continue the series, which will ultimately analyze each region in detail, with an analysis of Europe. I start here, rather than in the…
Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to the United States, says an emerging nuclear deal with Iran will impose tough restrictions on the Islamic Republic and improve regional security across the Middle East. But on Tuesday, Araud acknowledged that it could also pose a potential…