The Syrian war is producing a new generation of hardened jihadists who may pose a serious threat to Europe, according to comments made by British Foreign Secretary William Hague in a speech outlining the U.K.’s counter-terrorism strategy. Hague suggested that Syria has become the “number one destination” in the world for...

• Kindle

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced plans to launch a new initiative to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. The Secretary of State has recently emphasized that direct engagement of Assad and his regime by Syrian rebels, coupled with assurances regarding the security of the Iran-backed president and Syria’s...

• Kindle

The head of Russia’s state arms supplier declared Wednesday that Russia will continue to supply weapons to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, even as new U.N. figures indicate that the death toll in the country’s two-year civil war is approaching 70,000. Russia considers Syria to be inside its sphere of influence...

• Kindle

A top Iranian military official was reportedly killed by Syrian opposition forces Tuesday while traveling between Syria and Lebanon. Gen. Hassan Shateri, identified by Iranian opposition groups as a member of the Quds Force, the foreign arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, is thought to have been the chief IRGC leader in...

• Kindle

Syrian opposition figures are claiming that a car bomb that ripped through a Turkish border crossing on Monday was an assassination attempt targeting their delegation. Fourteen people were killed in the blast at the Bab Al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border. Analysis is now pivoting to speculation regarding Ankara’s reaction to the bombing,...

• Kindle

Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah “are building a network of militias inside Syria to preserve and protect their interests” should opposition forces successfully overthrow the Bashar al-Assad regime. The regime is aligned with Tehran, and the Iranians have continued to supply Damascus with weapons and training over the course of the...

• Kindle

Turkish diplomat Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, yesterday called on member states of the organization to adopt “clear strategy on defending Al-Quds,” the Arabic name for the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, from Israel. Ihsanoglu’s comments came during a meeting of OIC foreign ministers, conducted in preparation...

• Kindle

The air strikes on a weapons convoy in the Lebanon-Syria border area and on a suspected weapons facility northwest of Damascus underscore the complexity of the new security situation Israel will confront in 2013. It seems that in the Middle East, despite the euphoria of the “Arab Spring,” it’s more...

• Kindle

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become the first Iranian head of state to visit Egypt since Tehran broke off diplomatic relations with Cairo in 1980. Iran has been engaged in something of a charm offensive toward Egypt, dispatching high-level officials and using state-controlled Iranian TV to promote rapprochement. However, deep divisions remain...

• Kindle

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over the weekend lashed out at Israel over the reported strikes, urging  the Bashar al-Assad regime – against which Turkey has been waging a two-year proxy war inside Syria – to retaliate against Jerusalem. Davutoglu, described by US diplomatic cables as “exceptionally dangerous” and “lost in neo-Ottoman Islamist fantasies”,...

• Kindle