Syria
Syria Post Assad – No Closer to Pluralism
In the early days of the Syrian rebellion, it was widely assumed that the Assad dictatorship would collapse in short order. The “Arab Spring” had already cast off tyrannies in Tunisia and Egypt. The Ghaddafi regime in Libya would soon join that list...
Competition Among Syrian Extremists
The outbreak of armed conflict in Syria has driven the country into chaos, with a spectrum of opposition groups claiming to be fighting for the people and against the Assad regime. As the Syrian Civil War enters its fifth year, Islamic extremist...
ISIS and the Cleansing of a Culture
“Nothing is safe from the cultural cleansing under way in the country: it targets human lives, minorities, and is marked by the systematic destruction of humanity’s ancient heritage.” – Irina Bukova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific...
No Turkish Delight for U.S.
Turkey’s relationship with violent extremist group ISIS might generously be described as “permissive” - less generously, “complicit.” Not only has Turkey adopted a relaxed stance toward ISIS, some claim it has actively aided and abetted the terror...
The Tangled Roots of ISIS
The belief that the Iraq war was a monumental blunder is now widely held. In the public mind, the decision to dethrone Saddam Hussein has also become a ready explanation for nearly every ill to befall the world since. The latest baleful effect...
Extremists Compete for Control in Libya
The February beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by ISIS-alligned extremists in Libya grabbed international headlines, as did the reality that ISIS’s influence had spread far beyond Syria and Iraq. Since the beginning of 2015, forces loyal to...
Complexities in Profiling Western Foreign Fighters
CEP has reviewed the details of dozens of cases involving Western foreign fighters and jihadist brides who in some way were radicalized and became involved in the conflict in Iraq and Syria. Given the similarity of the end result, you would suspect...
Chances of Another Hezbollah-Israeli War Unlikely
A January 18 Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah convoy in Syria left six dead, including a senior Iranian general who had been advising the Syrian military. The strike had been in response to Syrian rocket fire within the Israeli-controlled Golan...
Extremism – The Charitable Thing To Do?
The United Arab Emirates labeled two U.S. non-profit groups, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim American Society, as terrorist organizations in late 2014 due to connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. The U.S. has not...
The Foreign Fighter Phenomenon
As many as 20,730 foreigners have joined armed militant groups in Iraq and Syria, making the two countries the most popular destinations for Muslim foreigner fighters in modern history. While garnering tremendous media attention of late, the...
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