The use of Incirlik airbase by Turkish warplanes launching attacks across the border and its re-opening to the US Airforce reflect the domestic and international goals of Turkey’s campaign.
FlickrUS Airforce
What prompted Turkey’s punishing campaign against both Islamic State and Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria? The explanation for this sharp reversal of policy may lie in calculations for fresh elections.
Saudi Arabia has been careful not to appear overly oppressive of groups like Islamic State for fear of antagonising its own constituents.
Reuters
Saudi citizens supporting Islamic State are not the result of a coherent plan directed by its rulers, but the overflow of a long-standing system used to maintain its domestic legitimacy.
Turkish troops patrol the Syrian border as airstrikes begin.
EPA/Deniz Toprak
Most countries welcomed the deal as they jockey to boost trade with the Islamic Republic and gain from the eventual end of sanctions.
Increased oil and gas revenues amid lifted sanctions are set to raise Iran’s economic fortunes, which ease Middle Eastern tensions.
EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh/AAP Image
Opponents of the Iran nuclear deal say it raises the nuclear weapons threat in the region. But Middle East tensions are actually likely to ease as Iran grows richer without being shackled by sanctions.
Taking a look at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant.
EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh
There’s a massive war going on at the tip of the Arabian peninsula – but you’d hardly know it.
Schools should teach students about peace and pluralism to reduce radicalisation, not necessarily about every world conflict and religion. Australian teen Jake Bilardi with Islamic State fighters.
AAP Image/Twitter
Introducing new curriculum requirements to teach young people about specific issues or requiring teachers to look out for signs of radicalisation are just as likely to have little or no impact if not supported by evidence.
The site of a bombing targeting the convoy of the Egyptian Prosecutor General, Hisham Barakat.
EPA/Khaled Elfiqi
There are three key reasons why success for the West hasn’t followed. Together, these reasons point towards an urgent need to shift strategy to avoid a stalemate.
Home away from home for too many Syrians.
US State Department
Syrians are the single largest group of displaced people in the world. How to make sure that the plight of these refugees doesn’t fuel future conflicts?
If governments are to maintain public support for their military ventures, war narratives must be kept simple and consistent. The underlying message must not change: the West is always the innocent victim of terrorism, never its perpetrator.
Iron grip: Hamas leader Khaled Mashal.
EPA/Jamal Nasrallah
Blair’s time as peace envoy left a lot to be desired.
What possesses a Queensland teenager like Oliver Bridgeman to go to fight in Syria? Online propaganda is not an adequate explanation on its own.
Facebook
Simplistic views of terrorist recruitment focus on online messages to Western youth. Foreign fighters are coming from many other countries, lured by many means, and we need more sophisticated responses.
Senior Associate Fellow on the Middle East at RUSI; Associate Professor in Politics & International Relations; Deputy Director of the Centre on US Politics, UCL