The erosion of American influence in the Middle East has created power vacuums which are being filled by geopolitical rivals from across the region, forcing Washington’s allies to “take matters into their own hands,” according to analysis published Wednesday in the New York Times. Michael Doran and Max Boot – senior fellows...

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At least 59 people were killed in what Reuters describes as a “spate of attacks” on mainly Shiite communities across Iraq on Thursday, the latest in a spike in violence driven both directly and indirectly by fighting in neighboring Syria. The conflict, which has gone on for more than two...

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that hundreds of Al Qaeda-linked jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) advanced overnight toward a Turkish border crossing. The move comes shortly after the group battled with elements of the more moderate Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). Meanwhile...

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Sunni jihadists yesterday detonated a series of coordinated car bombs in Shiite neighborhoods across Baghdad, the latest attacks in tit-for-tat violence that has analysts worried the country is slipping back into the all-out sectarian warfare of 2005-2006. At least fifty-four people were killed. The country’s renewed sectarian violence is in...

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Hezbollah was heavily involved in instigating and extending violence in Iraq, stretching back almost a decade. The Iran-backed terror group has been critical in assisting Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime extend that country’s war, which has seen over 100,000 people killed and hundreds of people gassed to death. The group has...

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A series of car bombs Tuesday killed over 30 people and injured more than 100. They were followed today by more car bombs, with the attacks this time claiming the lives of at least 6 more. The Washington Post notes that Iraq’s Shiite-led government has launched a counter-insurgency campaign –...

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A series of bombings and shootings in Iraq killed at least 24 people today, deepening fears that ongoing government efforts to stymie Sunni terror groups had failed – per the Associated Press – “to have dented the insurgents’ ability to stage attacks at a high place.” At least seven police officers were among today’s...

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The Syrian conflict has driven tens of thousands of refugees into neighboring countries, triggering both general regional instability and country-specific crises in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. American and U.N. diplomats have described the displacement of literally “millions of people. Sectarian strife locked in by the conflict had already as of...

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Sectarian violence inside Syrian is cascading across the Middle East. In Lebanon, Shiite Hezbollah and Sunni jihadists are locked in a spiral of violence. In Jordan, King Abdullah II is warning of sectarian “destruction.” Arabic media sources are openly worrying that Turkey will be pulled into a “sectarian swamp.” And...

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Israelis are rushing to equip themselves and their families with gas masks, amid an escalation in the Syrian crisis and the widely suspected use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad regime. Syria has one of the world’s largest chemical-weapons arsenals, containing roughly 1,000 tons of nerve agents. The Israel...

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