Kurdistan is a nation that encompasses parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey, but it is not a state. In post-Saddam Iraq the Kurds have had success in forming a new autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) with their own military. In July last year, KRG President Masoud Barzani asked his parliament to prepare for an independence referendum. The Kurds have a […]
Archive | Conflict
Kurdistan: the Next Epicentre of Regional Instability
Posted on August 30, 2015.
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, US, World
South Kordofan: Sudan’s Hidden Ethnic Cleansing
Posted on June 6, 2015.
Since 2011, South Kordofan, a Sudanese region situated on the border between South Sudan and Sudan, has been a battlefield between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). The latter is a political party and military organization, claiming to be “a Sudanese national movement that seeks to change the policies of the […]
Posted in Africa, Conflict, Food Security, Refugees, Security Issues, World
The overlooked story of Syria’s Yarmouk death camp
Posted on April 20, 2015.
A brave 12-year-old girl named Zeynab Daghastani recently attempted to escape the grim living conditions of a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. Starving and bone-tired, she did not make it very far before being shot and killed by an ISIS sniper. Welcome to Yarmouk. On April 1st, a group of ISIS’s mask-wearing jihadists swept through the […]
Posted in Conflict, Humanitarian Intervention, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Political Security, Refugees, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, UN, US, World
After Authoritarianism: State Development and National Identity in the Middle East
Posted on April 18, 2015.
The Arab Uprisings have resulted in an increase in the expression of both sectarian and trans-state identities, making the process of reunification and the prospects for a peaceful coexistence somewhat dependent on the new leaderships’ ability to unite, make amends and, possibly for the first time in the region, craft a territorial nationalism that complements rather […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Syria, Terrorism, World
Was ISIS Inevitable?
Posted on April 4, 2015.
ISIS’ exploits dominate headlines, horrifying witnesses around the world. As a history graduate who specialised in researching the rise of Islam, its culture, and its creation of a complex and inspiring civilisation, the recent destruction of millennia old artefacts have almost reduced me to tears. As we now watch and condemn the destruction of priceless […]
Posted in Conflict, Humanitarian Intervention, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Political Security, Refugees, Religion, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Taking a Russian Nuclear Threat on the Chin
Posted on April 1, 2015.
In light of wider Danish strategic priorities, Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard’s restrained reaction to Russia’s decision to target Danish military frigates with nuclear weapons was understandable. In a recent op-ed piece for the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, wrote that Danish warships would “become targets for Russian nuclear missiles” should […]
Posted in Conflict, Europe, Russia, Security Issues, World
Why Israel Is Losing the Public Relations War
Posted on March 28, 2015.
Almost everybody thinks badly of Israel. That’s what a poll published by the BBC World Service in 2014 shows. More precisely, Israel ranks as the fourth most negatively viewed nation, right after North Korea, Pakistan and Iran. What explains the differences between European and American views on Israel, and how does such an overall negative […]
Posted in Conflict, Economics, Israel, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Middle East, Political Security, Security Issues, World
Bibi Wins Re-election in Israel, But at What Cost?
Posted on March 28, 2015.
Incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won re-election. Under immense pressure, Netanyahu displayed his winner mentality and insatiable desire to govern Israel by seemingly pulling out all the stops to assure another Likud victory, but at what cost? First there was Netanyahu’s Republican-hosted speech to U.S. Congress where his apparent aim was to display […]
Posted in Conflict, Middle East, Security Issues, UN, US, World
ISIS and The Illusion of Power
Posted on March 5, 2015.
It can be difficult to stay optimistic about peace while an atmosphere of gloom permeates the contemporary Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria. It is nearly impossible to watch the news without being inundated by provocative visuals of ISIS’s atavistic executions of U.S. journalists and perplexed by ISIS’s seemingly uncanny ability to recruit Westerners. […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Religion, Syria, Terrorism, US, World
Mediterranean Migration Reveals Flaws in Dublin Convention
Posted on February 21, 2015.
John Donne famously reminded us that ‘no man is an island’. Likewise in today’s polycentric, ever-globalized, and interconnected world, no state can remain untouched by social, economic, or political influences from neighbouring states. As terrible as Islamic State has been for people living in Syria, Iraq and Libya, its effects on Europe are also increasingly being felt. […]
Posted in Africa, Conflict, Economic Security, Europe, Germany, Humanitarian Intervention, Iraq, Islam, Middle East, Refugees, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, UN, World
Russia and the West: How the Empathy Was Lost
Posted on February 20, 2015.
Last year I criticized some of the hawk-like voices, including that of David Brooks of the NYT, which were calling for Barack Obama to increase the fear factor in dealing with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine. I should point out that I am decidedly not a fan of Putin, whose actions in Crimea and Ukraine have been reprehensible. However, we need […]
Posted in Conflict, Europe, Russia, Security Issues, Ukraine Conflict, Uncategorized, US, World
Interesting Developments in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Posted on February 6, 2015.
There is a convenient falsehood every time a ceasefire agreement occurs and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict temporarily vanishes from the media. It is the assumption that the conflict has come to a halt and a diplomatic solution brokered by the United States is soon to follow. The truth is that the conflict does not stop, because the status […]
Posted in Conflict, Middle East, Security Issues, World
Colombia’s Rebel Reintegration Quagmire
Posted on February 1, 2015.
Colombia has endured more than five decades of civil discord. Peace negotiations between FARC representatives and the Colombian State have, though, been ongoing since 2012 as the country attempts to realise a future of security and peace. Yet it is the massive human toll that is perhaps the most potent issue to arise from this […]
Posted in Conflict, Drugs, Security Issues, World
Responsibility To Protect at Ten
Posted on January 27, 2015.
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine was agreed by UN member states in the 2005 World Outcome document. As we near the tenth anniversary of its adoption, how successful has it been? R2P replaces humanitarian intervention as a way in which the UN has justified state intervention. Implementation of R2P has come in 3 forms: i) […]
Posted in Conflict, Humanitarian Intervention, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, UN, World
Radicalism in the Modern World
Posted on January 14, 2015.
The main source of hostility in the modern world is the widening gap between the most and least developed segments of human civilization. While some societies are exploring potential life on other planets, life has not changed much for others over the past millennium. Unlike in previous centuries, the permeation of modern day technologies makes […]
Posted in Asia, China, Conflict, Europe, Security Issues, Terrorism, World
Iraq in 2015: An Interview with Iraq Analyst Joel Wing
Posted on December 31, 2014.
Robert Tollast sits down with Joel Wing, author of the excellent Musings on Iraq blog, to discuss the coming year in Iraq. Joel has made his blog an expansive online resource for Iraq analysis and it is now one of the main on-line forums for academic discussion of Iraq, recently hosting a 24 expert review of the […]
Posted in Conflict, Interviews, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
What Happens When the Islamic State isn’t Defeated?
Posted on September 5, 2014.
Since overrunning swathes of Iraq from its strongholds in Syria earlier this summer, it has been made relatively clear how American defense and counter-terrorism officials feel about the Islamic State (a.k.a. IS, ISIS, ISIL). In a word: spooked. The Islamic State is not only well organized but it is incredibly well financed and is now well equipped with American-made weaponry. This […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Shifting Sands in the Peacekeeping Business
Posted on September 5, 2014.
The established templates of international peace operations are under threat, because the core premise of these operations, consent, is eroding . Filipino and Fijian troops serving with the UNDOF mission in the Golan Heights were targeted by the Nusra Front last week (30 Aug). A number of Fijians have been captured while the Filipinos managed […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Who can bring unity to Iraq in 2014? An interview with Joel Wing
Posted on December 26, 2013.
Every December, California based analyst Joel Wing and I discuss the coming 12 months in Iraq. Joel has been the author of the Musings on Iraq blog since 2008, providing detailed analysis of political, economic and security developments in Iraq. His work is frequently cited by leading journals and news outlets. The last year in […]
Posted in Conflict, Interviews, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
Inside Jabhat an-Nusrah
Posted on March 18, 2013.
The ongoing conflict that has been running in Syria for more than two years, and the brutality of the Syrian regime in suppressing the uprising has encouraged the emergence of radical Jihadist movements in the country. The most important of these movements and one which has raised significant controversy and discussion among the Syrian intelligentsia […]
Posted in Conflict, Iraq, Middle East, Security Issues, Syria, Terrorism, World
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Why Timor-Leste’s Choice of Portuguese Might be Right
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“Today’s Morocco is Not That of the Past”
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When Putsch Comes to Shove: A Historical Take on Trump’s Attack at the Capitol
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The Significance of the Morocco-Israel-US Deal for Regional Peace
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Undoing the GOP Manipulation of the Courts. What the US Can Learn From Germany
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