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Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Understanding Egypt’s Limited Involvement in the Campaign Against Iran
After U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s last visit to the Middle East, Cairo has attempted to appear aligned with Gulf States’ efforts against the Iranian regime, at least rhetorically. Egypt’s participation in the Warsaw summit against Iran—which Pompeo had publicly announced in Cairo one month earlier—was perhaps intended to
Mar 21, 2019
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Mohamed Maher
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Iraq's Kurds Weigh Their Options, Balancing the United States and Iran
A trip to Iraqi Kurdistan last week, my first since the abortive referendum on independence there in October 2017, revealed a political landscape at once utterly different and eerily familiar. In the former category is the new, widespread understanding—both among the leaders I met with and among their younger followers
Mar 20, 2019
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David Pollock
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
What Washington—and Iran—Should Take Away from the Warsaw Conference
“Takeaways” is the classic Washington term used to encapsulate the outcomes of high-profile diplomatic gatherings. Last week, I was invited to moderate a panel at the “Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East,” cohosted in Warsaw by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Polish
Feb 22, 2019
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Dennis Ross
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Local Partnerships are Key to Confronting Iran in Iraq
With its historical, cultural, and civilizational depth, combined with a deft wielding of soft and hard power, Iran currently feels that it has the upper hand in Iraq. Moreover, Iranian strategy has experienced an important development: it has moved from calling for popular revolutions against political regimes to intervening in
Feb 19, 2019
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Firas Elias
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Revolutionary Iran and the Arab Causes: A Case of Ideological Entrapment
‘Iran has no objective interest in pursuing an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel policy, and would be amenable to a radical compromise, provided that its stature as the regional super-power is duly recognized.’ This is the blunt message communicated through various channels, including Iranian scholars associated with Tehran’s policy community during chance
Feb 11, 2019
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Hassan Mneimneh
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Zarif versus Pompeo: Realism Wins
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s recent visit to Baghdad has pushed the American project to counter Iranian influence in Iraq back to square one. The visit came just after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s tour in Baghdad and several other Middle Eastern capitals, through which he sought to
Feb 8, 2019
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Shukur Khilkhal
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
How Militias Affect Basra’s Protests
With protests originally sparking in July 2018, Basra continues to experience sporadic demonstrations.
Feb 1, 2019
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Azhar Al-Rubaie
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Another Course Correction Needed: Towards a Better Reception of U.S. Positions in the Middle East
Characterizations of U.S. engagement in the Middle East as merely chaotic ignore—often deliberately—that a course correction in U.S. policy is indeed taking place. Underneath the U.S. administration’s multiple, even conflicting messages communicated to friends and foes in the Middle East, the outlines of a coherent policy are potentially discernible. Washington
Jan 25, 2019
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Hassan Mneimneh
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
U.S. Withdrawal in Syria: Tracking Israeli and Iranian Media Responses
Just as President Trump’s announced decision to withdraw troops from Syria has garnered intense analysis from American media, the media outlets of regional actors involved in Syria are similarly occupied discussing likely scenarios for the country's future. In surveying the media responses of Iran and Israel—countries who have indirectly clashed
Jan 10, 2019
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Tamuz Avivi
Arjan Ganji
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
The “Reconstruction” of Syria: A War By Other Means
The current drive for the “reconstruction” of Syria—spearheaded by the Damascus regime and its backers in Russia and Iran—is not a legitimate effort of rebuilding and relief, despite recent consideration from regional and international actors. Rather, the proffered “reconstruction” efforts promise the continuation of the Syrian war by new means
Dec 21, 2018
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Hassan Mneimneh
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
The Overlap of Media, Culture, and Intelligence in Iran
The Iranian regime has adopted a clearly-defined political strategy through which it aims to spread its ideology and strengthen its influence beyond Iran’s geographic borders. The regime views the triple-pronged approach of culture, media, and intelligence as an effective tool that will allow it to win the hearts and minds
Nov 6, 2018
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Firas Elias
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
A Strengthening Shiite Axis Paradoxically Gives Peace between Syria and Israel a Chance
As the Assad-Iran-Russian axis prepares for the "last battle in Idlib," the question arises: what does the ‘day after’ look like for the region when events in Syria finally come to a conclusion? It is clear that Iran’s proxy forces would prefer to create a new Syria in accordance with
Oct 10, 2018
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Uri Halperin
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
The U.S. Role in the Future of Iraq
The United States of America has invested significant time and effort in Iraq over the last fifteen years, yet the Iraqi political process continues to falter. The damage of the country’s limited adoption of democratic values is continually demonstrated in each election cycle. This is especially complicated by the outsized
Sep 24, 2018
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Mithal Al-Alusi
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Limiting Corruption Opportunities in Iraq
As popular demonstrations in the south escalate further each summer, the next Iraqi government should address the root causes of this unrest. Otherwise, it risks the existence of the post-2003 system. One such cause is corruption, which could be addressed by adopting several anti-corruption measures, such as e-governance, one-stop-shops, encouragement
Sep 21, 2018
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Hashim Al-Rikabi
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Thirst For Decentralization in Southern Iraq
Last July, widespread protests broke out throughout southern Iraq as a result of deteriorating services, a lack of electricity, poor water quality, and increasing unemployment. While demonstrations are common during the hot summer months in southern and central Iraq, this year’s protests are markedly more widespread and have continued to
Sep 14, 2018
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Sadek Ali Hassan
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Iran’s Military Propaganda: Failures and Successes
While propaganda plays a major role in forming local and international public opinion, it may also be deployed as a tool of “soft deterrence,” designed to tilt the calculations and military strategies of other countries in another country’s favor. Iran’s financial investment in its media presence, with dozens of satellite
Sep 9, 2018
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Firas Elias
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Ayatollah Khamenei: Shifting from Velayat-e Faqih to Military Control
Almost forty years after its inception, the project of the Islamic Republic has failed. Ayatollah Khamenei has in essence admitted that an Islamic state is not complete in Iran. Nor is Iranian society unequivocally Islamic in the manner that the revolution intended: rather the Iranian government merely follows and applies
Sep 7, 2018
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Frzand Sherko
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Sanctions May Lead to Regime Change in Iran, but What Then?
The continually escalating war of words between Iran and the United States suggests that the Middle East will have much at stake in the coming months as sanctions take effect. The U.S. administration has made repeated assertions that “regime change” and “military action” against Iran are not on the agenda
Sep 6, 2018
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Abdelillah Bendaoudi
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Contextualizing Jihad and Takfir in the Shi’a Conceptual Framework
The nuances of jurisprudential difference between Sunni and Shi’a concepts of jihad have been more or less shaped by the history of the Shi’a community and by the approach of the Shi’a religious scholars to politics. Though the Shi’a concept of jihad has not infrequently aligned with that of Sunnism
Aug 31, 2018
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Robert Rabil
Fikra Forum
Fikra Forum
Former Saudi and Iranian Diplomats Agree: The Region is Stuck
Saudi Arabia and Iran are not often presented as being ‘in dialogue.’ Yet on January 29, 2018, two former Saudi and Iranian diplomats discussed a host of key issues at the Joint Special Operations University in Tampa, Florida. Prince Turki al-Faisal Al-Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Ambassador
Aug 27, 2018
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Andrew Ledford
Banafsheh Keynoush
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