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  • militias
Armed men from the MSA, an armed political movement in Mali's Azawad region, gather in the desert outside Menaka on March 14, 2020. AFP

The Sahel's paramilitary problem

Armed groups are being formed in places like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, where state militaries cannot defeat jihadists and separatists alone. Once formed, however, they seldom stay loyal.

Sergey Eledinov 16 September 2025
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
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Politics

Trump's visit tests 'special' US-UK relationship

16 September 2025

Despite Trump's often hostile engagement with traditional US allies, Starmer has trodden a careful path to keep him on side. But is this sustainable?

Christopher Phillips
Opinion

'The Voice of Hind Rajab' shows cries for justice are only getting louder

07 September 2025

A 24-minute standing ovation at the film premiere was more than a symbolic gesture of justice for Israel's murder of little Hind, but a heartfelt cry of real anguish over the ongoing genocide in Gaza

Samer Abou Hawwach
Armed men from the MSA, an armed political movement in Mali's Azawad region, gather in the desert outside Menaka on March 14, 2020. AFP
Politics

The Sahel's paramilitary problem

09 September 2025

Armed groups are being formed in places like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, where state militaries cannot defeat jihadists and separatists alone. Once formed, however, they seldom stay loyal.

Sergey Eledinov
Egyptian writer May Telmissany poses during a portrait session held on April 15, 2014, in Paris, France. Ulf Andersen/Getty
Culture & Social Affairs

May Telmissany: writing is an act of resistance against the ugliness of the world

14 September 2025

The acclaimed Egyptian writer talks love, betrayal, autobiography, and the lack of Arab literary identity

El-Sayed Hussein
Lina Jaradat
Politics

Butterfly effect: can the Palestine protest movement turn the tide?

14 September 2025

For nearly two years, protests around the world calling for an end to Israel's war on Gaza haven't fizzled out, but grown. Their geographic reach and longevity appear to have no precedent in history.

Bryn Haworth

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