Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Mahan Abedin
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US still dogged by strategic deficit in Syria
The US missile strike on Syria’s al-Shayrat air base earlier this month has raised expectations of a more muscular American policy in Syria in the advent of the Donald Trump administration. This is reinforced by Trump’s aggressive leadership style which has seen a dramatic spike in US military activity...
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Symbolic US strike on Syria exposes America’s weakness
The US strike on Syria’s al-Shayrat airbase has dramatically, if not momentarily, restored a sense of overbearing American hegemony in the Near East. By deploying superior intelligence collection and military assets the United States was able to conduct a precision strike on a symbolic target and send multiple messages...
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Tensions in Russia-Iran ties
The visit to Moscow last week by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has been widely interpreted in the West as the latest sign of strengthening ties between the two states. Whilst Rouhani’s two-day visit was dominated by trade and economics, in particular Russian investment in the Iranian energy sector, Syria...
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The myth of an Iranian-Egyptian rapprochement
Since early 2014 there has been a flurry of speculation on the apparently steadily improving relations between Egypt and Iran. A wide range of issues including the fight against Daesh, tourism and increasingly convergent views on the Syrian conflict are cited to support the thesis of a potential rapprochement....
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Iraq faces uphill task in reintegrating Mosul
The fight for Mosul is in its final weeks and expectations are rising of a successful Iraqi reintegration programme that not only eradicates Daesh from The country but more broadly reverses the tide of sectarianism at a national level. By any measure, this is an uphill task complicated by multiple inter-related internal and...
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Mosul recapture set to sharpen divide between Baghdad and Erbil
As Iraqi forces press home their advantage in the final stage of the recapture of Mosul, attention is increasingly focussed on the aftermath of the ejection of Daesh from the northern Nineveh province. While there is ample reason to worry about the continuation of sectarian tensions in Nineveh, and...
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Iran’s Palestine conference was designed to shore-up Tehran’s regional position
In late February, Iran hosted its first “International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada” in six years. First held in 1991 – and again in 2001, 2006, 2009 and 2011 — these high-profile conferences are an important feature of Iran’s regional policy, effectively acting as a focal point...