A portal to the past: The restoration of Erbil’s architectural heritage
When architect Mustafa Mofaq first started working on heritage restoration at Erbil’s citadel last year, it was with a great sense of personal connection. “My great-grandfather had a house here,” explains the 27-year-old, who is employed by an EU-UNESCO partnership aimed at supporting livelihoods through cultural heritage development in Iraq and Jordan.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the Rising Cult of Mahdism: Missiles and Militias for the Apocalypse
As the U.S. administration considers whether to remove Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, understanding its nature, development, and ideology is essential to making an informed decision. There is much about it that differentiates it from a conventional armed force. One fundamental aspect of its ideology that until now has been overlooked is the doctrine of Mahdism.
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Haider al-Abadi joins the program to discuss the country’s fight against ISIS, Iraqi politics and the challenges of reform. Dr. al-Abadi has a new book out, entitled “Impossible Victory: How Iraq Defeated ISIS” (Biteback Publishing, April 2022).
«داعش» يتعافى في سوريا… لكن الحاجة ماسة إلى الاستقرار
عندما لقي تنظيم داعش الإقليمي الهزيمة في سوريا قبل أكثر من ثلاث سنوات، احتفل العالم بإنجاز تاريخي. فعلى مدار خمس سنوات، حشد تحالف ضم أكثر من 80 دولة موارده المشتركة لدحر «داعش» في سوريا والعراق، والتصدي للجماعة الإرهابية على الإنترنت، ودحر شبكاتها المالية والشركات التابعة لها المكتشفة حديثاً في جميع أنحاء العالم.
In a room at the old Mosul Museum, a young Moslawi singer closes his eyes in a moment of rapture. Singing next to the museum’s modernist 1974 incarnation still being restored after ISIS’s pillage of it treasures, his voice lifts the hearts of listeners.
On Feb. 17, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the coming withdrawal of French armed forces from Mali. The decision put an end to nine years of French military intervention in the West African country.
The Pakistani Taliban’s radical rebranding: Is there more than meets the eye?
In a statement released on Feb. 12, the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) distanced itself from international terrorism, declaring that its violence was singularly focused on Pakistan. While the TTP’s recent comments on America are unprecedented, they do fit into its broader rebranding effort under the leadership of Noor Wali Mehsud, who took over the group in 2018.
بين السماء والأرض: الفن المعاصر من الإمارات العربية المتحدة
Afra Aldhaheri and Asma Belhamar, two featured artists in the MEI Art Gallery’s latest exhibition, Between the Sky and the Earth: Contemporary Art from the UAE, join MEI’s Lyne Sneige to discuss the inspirations and artistic processes behind their pieces in the show.
تفاصيل هجوم "داعش" على سجن الصناعة في مدينة الحسكة السورية
في العشرين من شهر كانون الثاني/ يناير، هاجمت مجموعات تابعة لتنظيم “داعش”، سجن الصناعة الواقع في الجهة الجنوبية لمدينة الحسكة أقصى شمال شرق سورية، الهجوم الذي أستمر لقرابة تسعة أيام، أنتهى بمقتل العشرات من مقاتلي التنظيم ومعتقليه داخل السجن، إضافة لمقتل قرابة 140 عنصراً من قوات سوريا الديمقراطية وحامية السجن التابعة لها.
A closer look at the ISIS attack on Syria’s al-Sina Prison
On Jan. 20, 2021, groups affiliated with ISIS attacked al-Sina Prison in the southern part of the city of al-Hasakah, in Syria’s far northeast. The attack, which lasted for nearly nine days, ended with the killing of dozens of ISIS fighters and detainees inside the prison, in addition to approximately 140 members of the SDF and its prison guards.
