The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps showcasing drones at a show titled "Hunting Vultures" in 2019. The drone shown appears to be a captured Israeli or Azerbaijani "Hermes". (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Mideast Drone Wars

October 15, 2021 | AIJAC staff

This Update is devoted to analysis of the escalating unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or “drone”) threat across the Middle East, emanating primarily from Iran and its proxies, and how regional nations are responding.

The Raisi Government and Iran’s internal crises

October 2, 2021 | AIJAC staff

This Update reviews the new Iranian cabinet of President Ebrahim Raisi, dominated by ultra-hardliners and full of individuals under international sanctions, and the severe and growing Iranian domestic problems this cabinet will ostensibly be charged with addressing, even as the world attempts to confront Iran’s dash to nuclear weapons capabilities and destabilising regional activities.

The 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 occasioned many reflections on not only what happened on that day, but also what has happened since and where the world can go from here. (Photo: Flickr | Creator: Picasa 2.0)

Selected analysis from the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks

September 17, 2021 | AIJAC staff

The twentieth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon last Saturday saw the publication of vast numbers of commentaries, analyses, retrospectives and thought-pieces.

With the Taliban now in control of the vast majority of Afghanistan, the world needs to swiftly deprive them, and allies such as al-Qaeda, of the resources needed to carry out external attacks (Image:  Naeblys, Shutterstock)

Confronting terrorism after the Afghanistan withdrawal

September 4, 2021 | AIJAC staff

This Update collects some policy recommendations to deal with the likelihood of a surge of Islamist terrorism coming out of Afghanistan, in the wake of the country’s reconquest by the Taliban following the US withdrawal. 

Pakistan and the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan are close allies, with the Pakistanin security services having provided arms, bases and training to the Taliban, even while Pakistan was ostensibly assisting the US-led coalition fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. (Photo: Oleg Bezrukov/ Shutterstock)

Pakistan and the Taliban

August 28, 2021 | AIJAC staff

In the wake of the ongoing violence and chaos in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover there, this Update focuses on the role of Pakistan, and especially Pakistan’s powerful security forces, as the major patron of the Taliban, and what policy options there are to deal with this reality. 

Image: sameer madhukar chogale, Shutterstock

The Afghan debacle: the view from Israel

August 21, 2021 | AIJAC staff

This Update deals with the aftermath of the sudden reconquest of Afghanistan by the Taliban last weekend, in the wake of a withdrawal from the country by the US and its allies and the collapse of the Afghan army.

A slide from a presentation released on August  6 by the US Central Command, providing details about the drone attacks on the M/T Mercer Street carried out between July 29 and 30, 2021. (Photo: US Central Command).

How to respond to the growing Iranian provocations at sea

August 14, 2021 | AIJAC staff

The attack on the M/T Mercer Street in the Gulf of Oman on July 29 and 30 by a series of drones shown to have originated in Iran, as well as a subsequent attempt to seize another ship nearby, the Asphalt Princess, by naval commandos, has ignited debate about the growing number of Iranian attacks at sea and what to do about them.

Ebrahim Raisi, the ultra-hardliner inaugurated as Iran's new President on Thursday (Wikimedia Commons).

Dealing with Iran under Raisi

August 7, 2021 | AIJAC staff

Hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, known as the “butcher of Teheran” for his role in the mass execution of dissidents in 1988, was inaugurated as Iran’s new President on Thursday, following an election in June which appeared rigged to guarantee his selection. This Update looks at the policy implications of Raisi’s ascension for Western nations dealing with Iran. 

Beirut in ruins after last year's massive blast caused by explosives stored at a Hezbollah-controlled warehouse at Beirut port - an apt metaphor for the state of Lebanon as a nation (Photo: Hussein Kassir / Shutterstock.com)

Lebanon’s Plight/ Continued Iranian unrest

July 31, 2021 | AIJAC staff

This Update deals with the situation of effective state collapse in Lebanon, how the world should react, and the implications for Israel. Also, following up on last week’s Update on the unrest in Iran, it contains a report on the latest developments in those still expanding anti-regime demonstrations and the regime’s efforts to repress them.

A new wave of unrest in Iran: Gathering and protest rally outside Amir Kabir University in Teheran last year (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Iranian unrest/ Syria’s narco-dictatorship

July 24, 2021 | AIJAC staff

This Update looks at the growing unrest in Iran over recent weeks, sparked mainly by electricity and water shortages, and the wider international implications. It also features a fascinating piece on the increasing reliance of the dictatorial Assad regime in Syria on narcotics production and trafficking to keep itself afloat.

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