Stay out of the Syrian Morass
by Daniel Pipes* As the Syrian government makes increasingly desperate and vicious efforts to keep power, pleas for military intervention, more or less on the Libyan model, have become more insistent....
View ArticleThoughts on the Syrian Downing of a Turkish Warplane
by Daniel Pipes* There appears to be agreement on the basic facts: a Turkish F-4 violated Syrian airspace and the Syrian military shot it down over its territorial waters. Further, there is no dispute...
View ArticleIsrael is in Good Shape Because So Many Others Decided Not to Be
By Barry Rubin The more I think about Israel’s security situation at this moment, the better it looks. Obviously, this is counter-intuitive given the media bias, academic distortions, and campaigns for...
View ArticleSyria’s Kurds stand alone after rejecting rebels and regime
by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi* Developments in Syria and Iraq have led some to speculate that the birth of an independent Kurdish state might be at hand. A closer analysis shows that a united Kurdistan is...
View ArticleAre Iraq and Turkey Models for Democratization?
by Ofra Bengio* In the wake of the upheavals that have shaken the Arab world since December 2010, activists, politicians, and analysts have all been searching for new, democratic models of governance...
View ArticleTurks Fear ‘Kurdish Spring’
By Jonathan Spyer Turkish forces have launched a major offensive in recent days against positions held by the PKK rebel movement in the area of the Turkish-Iraqi border. Up to 2,000 troops are taking...
View ArticleRamadan: Islam’s ‘Holy Month’ of Christian Oppression
by Raymond Ibrahim* The month of Ramadan, which ended earlier this week, proved to be a month of renewed Muslim piety on the one hand, and renewed oppression of non-Muslim minorities on the other. In...
View ArticleWait Out the War in Syria
by Daniel Pipes* Bashar al-Assad’s wretched presence in the Presidential Palace of Damascus may, contrary to Western assumptions, do more good than harm. His murderous, terroristic, and pro-Tehran...
View ArticleRomney Channels George W. Bush’s Middle East Policy
by Daniel Pipes* Mitt Romney gave a generally fine speech today on the Middle East. Sensibly, he criticized the Obama administration for its Benghazi shenanigans, for the “daylight” with Israel,...
View ArticleIs David’s Sling Broken?
Israel may be the price for Western resetting of relations with Arabs By Alexander Maistrovoy Henry Kissinger’s recent statement that Israel will cease to exist in 10 years borders on senility....
View ArticleHumanitarian Hypocrisy
by Raymond Ibrahim* The world’s double standards concerning which peoples qualify as oppressed and deserving of help are staggering. Two recent stories illustrate this point: First, a report exposed,...
View ArticleIslamism’s Unity
by Daniel Pipes* A Sept. 14 attack on the U.S. embassy in Tunis left 4 dead, 49 injured, several buildings looted and burnt out, and the black Salafi flag flying above the embassy grounds. In response,...
View ArticleThe Sunni-Shia Conflict Will Be The Major Feature of Middle East Politics for...
By Barry Rubin Once upon a time, Arab nationalism ruled the Middle East. Its doctrine saw Arab identity as the key to political success. Some regarded Islam as important; others were secular. Yet there...
View ArticleIsrael’s Situation and Strategy In Obama’s Second Term
By Barry Rubin “Don’t Panic” – Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy What should Israel’s policy and priorities be in President Barack Obama’s second term? There will be two key themes:...
View ArticleTurkey’s Islamist Turn, 10 Years Later
by Daniel Pipes* Is Turkey—due to its size, location, economy and sophisticated Islamist ideology—set to become the West’s greatest problem in the Middle East? A tumultuous decade has passed since the...
View ArticleEffective Sanctions on Iran — Oxymoron
by Yoram Ettinger, The Ettinger Report Twenty eight years of unilateral and multilateral US-led sanctions, accompanied by diplomatic pressure and cyber sabotage, have failed to deter Iran’s Ayatollahs...
View ArticleA Hamas Divided
by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi* Whenever the Israel-Palestine conflict is in the news, too much ink is wasted over moralizing rather than analyzing. Instead of trying to explain what is going on, provide...
View ArticleTalking Turkey
by Daniel Pipes* The menu for meals on my Turkish Airlines flight earlier this month assured passengers that food selections “do not contain pork.” The menu also offered a serious selection of...
View ArticleIslamic Supremacy Alive and Well in Ankara – Turkey, Past and Future
by Diana Muir Appelbaum* Supersessionism refers to the belief that Christians have superseded Jews in a new covenant with God. Islam, too, sees itself as superseding all previous divine revelation but,...
View ArticleTurkey, Closest to Leading the Middle East
by Şenay Yıldız* Translation of the original text: Ortadoğu liderliğine en yakın ülke Türkiye Translated by Elif S. Gürbey Founder and president of the Middle East Forum, Daniel Pipes is well known for...
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