The Middle East, North Africa, and the World Cup
Over the duration of the upcoming 32 days, 32 teams from around the world will play to earn the title of “World Champion.” Yesterday, the national teams of both Russia and Saudi Arabia kicked off the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Moscow. In addition to...
UN Races to Negotiate a Ceasefire to Avoid Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen
Al Hudaydah, a major Yemeni port city through which Yemen receives between 70-80 percent of its humanitarian aid, is in danger of attacks led by United Arab Emirate (UAE) forces. Fears of these attacks grew after the UAE issued a warning stating that the UN...
The Issue of Sleeper Cells and Terrorist Activity in Saudi Arabia: Changing Rhetoric
In a recent article published by Al Arabiya, a media outlet based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it was reported that Saudi Arabia has preemptively ordered the execution of four people accused of forming a terrorist sleeper cell used to communicate with Iran. Allegedly,...
Update on ISIS
Earlier in the week the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the U.S.-led Coalition began their second offensive in the Deir A’zzour province against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In the province, ISIS controls territory from Hajin to Abu Kamal and along the...
SDF Withdrawal from Manbij
The General Command of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) released a statement on Tuesday, June 5th announcing the withdrawal of its military advisors from the northwestern Syrian city of Manbij (1). YPG advisors had been stationed in Manbij to train the Manbij Military Council...