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  • militias
Iraqi Shiite fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitaries advance in a desert area near the village of Tall Abtah, southwest of Mosul, on November 28, 2016. AFP

The proliferation of militias requires a pan-regional strategy

Non-state actors have risen to political prominence at an alarming rate since the Arab Spring. Combatting these groups is vital to achieving regional security and stability. Our future depends on it.

Zaidoun Al-Zoubi 06 March 2024
The role of the state, society, and the individual has rarely been more in flux in the Middle East. The philosophical underpinning of their roles and relationships matters now more than ever. Sara Gironi Carnevale

Non-state actors and the dangerous webs they weave

The role of the state, society, and the individual has rarely been more in flux in the Middle East. The philosophical underpinning of their roles and relationships matters now more than ever.

Houssam Itani 11 February 2024
Across MENA, the proliferation of militias combines corruption, smuggling, looting, intimidation, and parasitism to swell their coffers at the expense of state treasuries. Mona Eing

The militia economy in the Middle East

Across MENA, the proliferation of militias combines corruption, smuggling, looting, intimidation, and parasitism to swell their coffers at the expense of state treasuries.

Khaled Kassar 09 February 2024
A Shiite fighter from the Hashed al Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) patrols in the village of Ayn Nasir, south of Mosul, on October 29, 2016. AFP

Rogue operators: An in-depth look at Iraq’s powerful militias

Armed groups have proliferated in the Iraqi security vacuum, in some cases supported by Iran. After three US soldiers were killed, the Americans have hit back. How will the militias react now?

Salam Zaidan 04 February 2024
The origins of this mafia class can be traced back to the power vacuum the US invasion of Iraq created in 2003. 20 years later its influence is pervasive and its presence ostentatious. AP/AFP/MAJALLA

The conspicuous rise of Iraq's mafia class

The origins of this mafia class can be traced back to the power vacuum the US invasion of Iraq created in 2003. 20 years later, its influence is pervasive and its presence aggravating.

Ayad Al-Anbar 13 August 2023
Iraqi Shiite fighters from the Nujaba armed group march during a military parade marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) International Day in Baghdad, on May 31, 2019. Getty Images

Iraq: A land riven by fighting and laced with militias

A look at the cause of security breakdown in Iraq, the armed groups that filled the void, and the sectarian tensions this has created

Manaf Saad 08 April 2023
A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iranians Appear to Defy Warning from Powerful Guards with More Protests

Iranian students defied warnings from the feared Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia that nationwide protests must end by Sunday, prompting a fierce response from riot police and militia, videos…

30 October 2022
1-	Syrian government forces stand in Kobajjep some 40 kilometres west of Deir Ezzor after taking control of the town as they advance towards Deir Ezzor in the battle against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists on September 5, 2017. (Photo credit should read GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Iranian Militias May Try to Expand Further if There is any New Attack in Northern Syria

With Moscow preoccupied with the Ukrainian war and the withdrawal of some of its forces and senior military leaders from Syrian territory after an intervention that lasted for years and prevented the…

Jiwan Soz 01 July 2022
Mr. Taha Yassin Ramadan, First Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq

From Archive: Taha Yassin Ramadan to Majalla: Peace with Iran is Possible Under the Current Regime

Baghdad: In Iraq, they call him the "difficult man" and "the man of major missions," He is the author of political decision No. 2. He rarely laughs and is known for his deep understanding of Iraqi…

Nora Fakhoury 24 January 2022
A fighter from Deir al-Zor military council which fights under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) holds the council's flag in the village of Abu Fas, Hasaka province, Syria September 9, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said

Denouncing Iranian Presence, Protests Erupt in Countryside of Syria’s Deir ez-Zor

Popular demonstrations took place in various parts of the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, Syria, at the beginning of this week, denouncing the control of Iranian-backed militias over parts of that…

Jiwan Soz 21 January 2022
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Barbara Gibson
Politics

China’s Victory Day Parade: symbolic or seismic?

05 September 2025

Beijing would like the week to mark a historic turning point in which a unipolar world finally gave way to multipolarity. To others, it was just tub-thumping bravura. In reality, it was a bit of both.

Shirley Ze Yu
Business & Economy

Syria’s post-Assad energy quandary

01 September 2025

The country now sits at an energy crossroads: will its recovery be anchored in oil and gas, or will it seize the chance to lean into renewables and build something more resilient?

Jesse Marks
Pep Boatella
Politics

Disarming Hezbollah: will Lebanon seize or squander its opportunity?

02 September 2025

After Israel dealt Iran and its regional axis a string of crippling blows last year, Lebanon now finds itself better-positioned to reclaim its eroded state sovereignty. Will it grab the chance?

Frederic C. Hof
Al-Ma'arri in his residence as depicted in a 1965 book Wikipedia Commons
Culture & Social Affairs

Al-Ma’arri’s satirical poetry reimagined for today's readers

02 September 2025

Recent books from Yemen, Egypt, and Syria take a new look at the 10th-century philosopher's famed letter 'The Epistle of Forgiveness', which is said to have inspired Dante's 'Divine Comedy'

Ali Almuqri
Local residents walk past a house destroyed by an earthquake that killed nearly 1,000 people and devastated villages in eastern Afghanistan, on September 1, 2025. AFP
Politics

For Afghan quake victims, sympathy came faster than help

04 September 2025

An earthquake in Afghanistan earlier this week levelled entire villages and left people trapped under rubble for days, but in the shadow of the Hindu Kush, saviours were thin on the ground

Kaswar Klasra

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OPINIONS

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Ibrahim Tutunji
Ibrahim Tutunji

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Con Coughlin

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Faisal Faeq
Faisal Faeq

Let's not let atrocity fatigue over Gaza get the best of us

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