January 28, 2025

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THE MAIN KURDISH POLITICAL PARTIES IN IRAN, IRAQ, SYRIA, AND TURKEY: A RESEARCH GUIDE

By August 19, 2024
The Kurdish flag.

Kurdistan is divided, and the Kurdish people are not united geographically. They are split among numerous political parties and institutions in several different countries. Various early attempts to build Kurdish national movements after 1918 failed. Modern Kurdish parties began to emerge after World War II. In the post-Cold War era, Kurdish movements have gained momentum politically, economically, socially, as well as at the regional and international levels. The current period may well be a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Iran, Iraq, Kurds, MERIA Journal Volume 17, Number 2 (Summer 2013), Syria, Turkey

THE POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE-GENERAL COMMAND (PFLP-GC) AND THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR

By August 7, 2024
PFLP-GC Jihad Jibril Brigade

As the Asad regime’s most loyal Palestinian proxy, the PFLP-GC’s role in the conflict in Syria is of great importance. Currently, the group’s interests center on countering Syrian rebel forces in Syria and their allies in Lebanon. In this role, the PFLP-GC has suffered a number of significant losses, and for the first time in its existence is being pressed in all areas it operates. This article will focus on the Syrian Civil War’s effects on the PFLP-GC and what the future may hold for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Lebanon, MERIA Journal Volume 17, Number 2 (Summer 2013), Palestinians, Radical Movements, Syria Tagged With:

CYPRUS, A RUSSIAN FOOTHOLD IN THE CHANGING EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

By August 4, 2024
Cypriot Offshore Gas Fields

Russian interests in the Eastern Mediterranean have been highlighted both by the country’s diplomatic and naval activity related to the Syrian crisis as well as by its stance on economic and energy issues in Cyprus. During the 2000s, Moscow’s influence on the island has steadily increased, making Cyprus a new Russian foothold in the Eastern Mediterranean. While Moscow’s ties with Nicosia have served Russia’s Mediterranean energy interests, they have also revived tensions with Turkey. In … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cyprus, Energy, MERIA Journal Volume 17, Number 2 (Summer 2013), Regional Security, Russia/USSR, Turkey

THE ARAB SPRING: IMPLICATIONS FOR CHINESE POLICY

By August 4, 2024
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (L), Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem (C), and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi (R) attend press conference after closing ceremony of Fifth Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum in Hammamet, Tunisia, May 31, 2012. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

The Arab Spring has created new centers of instability in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA). China now finds itself forced to alter attitudes and tactics and seek new opportunities. This article evaluates current Chinese foreign policy in the Middle East and the benefits and challenges to China's policy by examining how recent events affected Beijing in four areas: economy and trade, social stability, welfare of Chinese citizens, and strategic rivalry with the United States. Click for PDF … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China, MERIA Journal Volume 17, Number 2 (Summer 2013), Regional Tagged With:

REVOLUTIONARY SALAFI ISLAMISTS IN EGYPT: AN ANALYSIS AND GUIDE

By August 3, 2024
A microbus sponsored by the al-Nour Party offers voters free rides to polling stations during 2011/2012 Egyptian parliamentary elections.

While the ruling Muslim Brotherhood has received a great deal of attention in Egypt, the varied Salafi groups have been far less studied. At times allies and at times rivals of the Brotherhood, the Salafists are widely varied. Whether the two groups can cooperate will determine the future of Islamist rule in Egypt. The Salafists pull the Brotherhood to take stronger action more immediately and may have faith in the larger organization or consider it to have betrayed the revolution. Moreover, the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Egypt, MERIA Journal Volume 17, Number 2 (Summer 2013), Radical Movements Tagged With:

BLIND TO TERROR: THE U.S. GOVERNMENT’S DISASTROUS MUSLIM OUTREACH EFFORTS AND THE IMPACT ON U.S. MIDDLE EAST POLICY

By June 4, 2025

  Why has the U.S. government called certain Islamic groups supporters of terror in federal court, and then turned around and called these same organizations “moderates” and embraced them as outreach partners? In a number of cases from the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations, the leaders of these organizations (some of whom are now in federal prison) were under active investigation at the same time they were meeting with senior U.S. leaders at the White House and the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: MERIA Journal Volume 17, Number 2 (Summer 2013), Radical Movements, U.S. Policy on the Middle East Tagged With: , , , , ,