Explaining the threat of Al-Shabaab in Somalia
The African continent has been a victim of poverty and terrorism for a long period of time. Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are among the most affected countries by terrorism in this region. On 10th January 20224 Al Shabab (the youth), a terrorist organization in East Africa, captured a UN helicopter in Central Somalia. Almost six passengers were taken hostage by the militant group after the helicopter landed in the Galgaduud region. Soon after the incident, the United Nations temporarily suspended all its flights in the vicinity…
“Ottoman Response” in Northern Iraq Could Create a New Crisis Throughout the Region
Turkey considers the Kurdish issue among the priority threats to its national security. In this regard, the formation of a Kurdish autonomy in the territory of south-east Turkey is perceived by Ankara as an existential threat to internal security, as well as the possibility of such autonomies (and especially an independent Kurdistan) in the territory of neighboring countries (in particular, in Syria, Iraq and Iran) threatens to the Turkey’s external security. Actually, it is also not clear where tens of millions of Kurds should move to from the territories they have inhabited for many centuries…
Turkey launches new local war against PKK in Iraq
The Kurdish issue remains a key threat to Turkey’s internal and external security. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), banned and recognised as a terrorist organisation in Turkey, somehow continues its actions against Turkish forces in northern Syria and Iraq, which is used by Ankara to conduct local military operations in neighbouring countries to suppress the resistance of Kurdish forces and destroy their military facilities. As it became known from mass media, on 22 and 23 December this year, 12 Turkish servicemen were killed as a result of attacks of PKK militants on a Turkish…
ISIL* instead of Al-Qaeda* as a global franchise of international terrorism
Despite the decline in the number of references in the world press to the two most “publicised” brands – Al-Qaeda (AQ*) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL*) – the topic remains a relevant security concern in various regions of the world. Understanding the actual processes involved in the use of terrorist methods in regions with Muslim populations requires an understanding of the nature and drivers of the groups associated with ISIL* and AQ*. Since 2014, reports on the activities of Al-Qaeda* have largely given way to publications on the activities of another…
Sahel at the Forefront of Combatting Terrorism
The worsening security situation in the African region of Sahel emphasizes the need for re-assessment of both military efforts and the safety strategy for its countries. We would remind that Sahel is a region in Africa, determined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographical area of the transitional zone between Sahara in the north and the Sudanian savanna in the south. It has hot semiarid climate and spreads through the southern central latitudes of North Africa between the Atlantic Ocean…
Where is Afghanistan and where is Zangezur...
Afghanistan continues to be an area of instability in Asia, with multiple internal and external political conflicts, both ongoing and potential, no socioeconomic stability to speak of, and new waves of irrational migration being created as we speak. The obsession with starting wars has returned to a nation where generations have been educated in a warlike attitude and where there are no work conditions. Furthermore, in order to create controlled disorder in the Asian stage, various centers of power frequently start such a crisis from the outside…
The Politicization of Militant Groups: From Hamas to Sinn Féin
Throughout history, there have been a few indelible transitions of militant groups to politics –this phenomenon can be labeled “politicization.” It is surprising to discern that most militant or insurgent groups do not end because of policing or military action. According to an examination of 648 terrorist organizations that existed between 1968-2006, the primary avenue for a terror group’s demise was found to be via the political process – this was true 43% of the time. Joining the political process is one of the seven key elements identified in the decline and ending of terrorist outfits…
Russia is finding new solutions to the Syrian crisis
The destabilization of the military-political situation and the provoked civil war in Syria, which has been going on since March 2011, have become another consequence of the US regional policy of reformatting the Middle East region and establishing its own monopoly. The strategy of “controlled chaos” with the use of radical forces and internal political contradictions was a hackneyed product of American diplomacy and intelligence. The Syrian conflict is an echo of the “Arab Spring” and a reflection of multi-layered ethno-religious contradictions…
Maritime piracy: the present state of the factors of the age-old threat in the seas of Southeast Asia
The issue of maritime piracy has always occupied a niche on the “dark” side of the mosaic and the multidimensional image of the modern world. History bears witness to the fact that every new stage of economic and commercial development of sea and ocean expanses, and the establishment of regular navigation, as a rule, has been accompanied by the emergence of pirate centers in the coastal areas. The state of affairs at the forefront of the fight against this criminal practice is characterized by remarkable changes at the present stage. After the last period…