The difference between the seething realm of Islamic State (IS) and the relatively safe and democratic region of Iraqi Kurdistan is a stark one. Assuming that the combined humanitarian and military reinforcements…
Like him or loathe him, the late Samuel Huntington was one of the towering figures in political science and international relations. Even those who disagreed with his ideas were forced to engage with them…
Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Shiite volunteers take position in the fight against the Islamic State.
EPA/STR
As the Islamic State (IS) continues to gain ground, it is largely Kurdish territory that they are taking in northwestern Iraq. One result of the conflict has been to bring close military co-operation between…
Members of the Yasidi religious minority refugees boarding an aid flight in Sinjar, August 10.
EPA/Michel Reimon
The immediate crisis to which the British government is now scrambling to find an appropriate response is the desperate plight of hundreds of refugees stranded on a mountain ridge and surrounded by forces…
Political crisis in Iraq: “Al-Maliki is our choice” insist supporters of the ousted PM.
EPA/Ali Abbas
One of the defining moments in the growth of the Islamic State (IS) was when its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced in a mosque in Mosul at the end of June that an Islamic Caliphate was being established…
Impressive - but only as back-up to ground forces.
EPA/Cpl. Jamean Berry
As the Islamic State (IS) continues its seemingly unstoppable march across Iraq it advertises its unique anti-Christian, anti-Shia, anti-everybody brand of Islam on social media as medieval barbarism meets…
Covering atrocity on August 12 2014.
Daily Mirror, The Times, The Sun.
Even for a world accustomed to news reports of conflict and disaster, the past three months seem to be unprecedented for the frequency of horrific events. From the continuing tragedies in Syria, to the…
Lebanese troops enter the border town of Arsal to fight off ISIS.
EPA/Stringer
The Islamic State’s campaign across Northern Iraq and Syria has entered Lebanese territory for the first time. Long affected by the spillover of refugees fleeing its war torn neighbours, the brief battle…
Defence Minister David Johnston has not ruled out providing back-up military assistance to the United States operation in Iraq.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Defence Minister David Johnston has said Australia is “not ruling out providing some back-up assistance” to American military action against insurgents in Iraq. Johnston today went further than Prime Minister…
Tough decision: Barack Obama with the National Security Council.
EPA/Pete Souza
Barack Obama’s decision to authorise the bombing of the forces of the Islamic State, or ISIS as it is commonly known, in northern Iraq has justifiably caught many observers by surprise. After all, the…
US president Barack Obama has confirmed that the US military made targeted airstrikes and carried out a humanitarian operation in Iraq, marking the deepest US engagement in the country since US troops…
The government wants to toughen laws to prosecute and deter Australians, such as alleged Syria suicide bomber ‘Abu Asma al-Australi’, from fighting in foreign conflicts.
Twitter/@AbuSiqr
The Abbott government will soon unveil the legislative details of its second tranche of revamped anti-terrorism measures. The government introduced the first set of reforms into the Senate in July. One…
Islamic State militants have destroyed sites of great cultural and historical significance in Iraq, such as the tomb of the prophet Jonah in Mosul.
EPA/Stringer
Iraq previously had one of the most multicultural societies in the Middle East. A broad diversity of religions, races and cultures flourished in Iraq, united by common heritage, culture and traditions…
Was it only 20 years or so ago that Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the ‘end of history’? Fukuyama may have one of the biggest brains on the planet, but he was spectacularly wrong about the idea that Western-style…
Women in the Netherlands protest against ISIS.
Robin van Lonkhuijsen/EPA
The July 24 report by UN official Jacqueline Badcock that ISIS, the militant Jihadist group now controlling areas of Syria and Iraq, had ordered all women between the ages of 11 and 46 to undergo female…
Kurdish Peshmerga forces now control their long dreamt-of capital, Kirkut, but the euphoria at the prospect of independence ignores the real practical challenges of statehood.
AAP/Newzulu/Guillaume Briquet
Iraqi Kurds are in a unique position to declare independence in defiance of a seemingly powerless central government in Baghdad following the rapid disintegration of Iraq in the face of the Islamic State…
One of Mosul’s 22 churches, facing destruction.
EPA/STR
ISIS conquests across northern Iraq have been comprehensive in recent weeks. Taking control of large parts of the region, they declared a Caliphate last month. And one group who have especially suffered…
Tony Blair and Benjamin Netanyahu speak the same language when distancing themselves from the killing of civilians in military operations.
EPA/Haim Zach/Israeli government press office
Some years back, award-winning British journalist Robert Fisk wrote an article in which he stated the apparent tautology that “murder is murder”. Fisk was writing on Israel’s policy of “targeted killing…
The UN Security Council made a little bit of history this week when it passed Resolution 2165. It allows the humanitarian aid to be delivered to rebel-held areas of Syria without government approval. Instead…