The introduction of military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) by the Central Intelligence Agency in the skies over Afghanistan during 2000 represented a fundamental shift in intelligence gathering capabilities.  Today, UAVs are used for a wide range of military missions such as border surveillance, reconnaissance, transportation and armed attacks. Following...

On 1 May 2017, Hamas held a major press conference in Doha, Qatar to announce what has been called a “New Charter” for Hamas.  The leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, presented A Document of General Principles & Policies, intended to set out a revised political agenda for Hamas.  The...

Recent gains in Iraq by the US-led coalition have translated into clear losses for ISIS/Daesh.  The territory controlled by the so-called “caliphate” shrunk 16% in the first nine months of 2016 and 14% in 2015. Iraqi military sources believe that the insurgency now controls less than 7% of Iraqi...

The unrelenting pace of technological change epitomises the domain of cybercrime and cybersecurity with criminals constantly developing new and transformed attacks. These innovations in cybercrime include those within the Dark Web – the collection of websites that exist on an encrypted network that cannot be found by using traditional...

Over 140 defenseless civilians in Mosul, Iraq, were killed in a single airstrike on the 17th of March, likely conducted by United States aircraft.  Several important questions can be asked in the wake of this: First, did Daesh (ISIS/ISIL, Islamic State) intentionally gather these Iraqis to use them as...

Internationally, geostrategic shifts are occurring that Russia, the US and China are forging, contesting and benefiting from – almost all at once. This triad, as a new lens to interpret drivers in today’s international relations, reflects bilateral and multilateral cooperation and competition. Indeed, a new geopolitical landscape has emerged...

Events in 2016 confounded the so-called “experts” leading to declarations about the death of expertise.  Following the outcome of the Brexit vote, or the Trump election to the USA Presidency, a key part of the discussion was why did the experts, analysts, predictors get it wrong?  A conclusion of...

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recently published a report titled Arab World Horizons: Arab Fractures: Citizens, States, and Social Contract. The Report examines the widespread lack of human development in the MENA region and attempts to identify key areas where governments can take action. Investing in human capital...

The proliferation of drone technology presents a new and unique suite of security challenges. Last year, rogue drone incursions forced the temporary closure of Dubai and Sharjah International airports. The shutdowns were serious events, costing hundreds of millions of dirhams per hour, disrupting dozens of flights and inconveniencing thousands...

The inauguration of Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States has reignited the debate about the future of the liberal international order. Some bullish assessments aside most prognosis are gloomy. In many respects this is nothing new. Anguished accounts foretelling the demise of the liberal order, the...

On 31 October 2016, Lebanon’s parliament elected veteran Christian leader General Michel Aoun as the country’s new President, ending a 29-month-long vacuum at the head of the state.  For over two years prior the election, Aoun’s candidacy was rejected by the pro- Arab and western coalition including the Sunni...

Political organizations often play with history.  Terrorist groups are, of course, organizations with political agendas and it should come as no surprise that the use and abuse of history as a tool also applies to Salafi-Jihadist terrorist groups like al-Qa’ida and Daesh/ISIS.  Both organizations begin with sacred history and...