Abstract: This article examines the historical trajectory of “foreign terrorist fighters” associated with the Islamic State and its antecedents, al-Qa`ida and the Arab Afghans. The article argues that the threat of foreign fighters today is best understood as being in stasis. Foreign fighters continue to pursue external operations against the …

In recent weeks, there has been a noticeable warming of relations between Syria’s new regime, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, and Russia. This rapprochement has met with criticism from many Syrians, given that Russia was a key ally of the Bashar Al-Assad regime. During Syria’s civil war it took brutal …

Syria seems to be inching back towards fracturing. On November 23, unknown individuals killed a husband and wife from a Sunni Arab Bedouin tribe in Homs Province. Authorities found slogans written at the scene that are commonly associated with Alawite and Shiite communities, such as “Ya Ali, Ya Hussein.” Despite …

Hamas leaders and mediators from Egypt, the US, Qatar and Turkey are engaged in wide-ranging discussions in Cairo to iron out potential hurdles in the next phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, sources told The National on Tuesday. They said topics under discussion include Hamas’s disarmament, the mandate …

Following the passing of UN Security Council Resolution 2803 on November 17, 2025, which is based on U.S. President Trump’s 20-point plan and calls for the deployment of an “International Stabilization Force” (ISF) in Gaza – tasked inter alia with “the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state groups” and “the …

Latest Developments New Mission in Terror Hotspots: The IDF initiated a new counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank on November 26, with raids carried out in a strip of Palestinian villages that includes Tubas, Tammun, Far’a, Tayasir, and al-Aqaba. The operation is reportedly being carried out by troops from …

La publication surprise, la semaine dernière, d’un projet de plan de paix pour l’Ukraine a suscité l’espoir d’une fin imminente à ce conflit sanglant qui dure depuis près de trois ans. L’Ukraine a subi des pertes terribles qui pourraient bouleverser sa démographie pour les décennies à venir. Si ce plan …

Un sondage réalisé par l’institut Ifop conclut à une forte poussée de religiosité, de rigorisme et de soutien à la mouvance islamiste chez les musulmans de France. Cette étude, critiquée pour ses biais méthodologiques, a été commanditée par une revue soupçonnée de liens avec les Émirats arabes unis. Quelle est …

The muhajirin file, or foreign fighters, has become a thorny issue for the new Syrian state, caught between loyalty to the fighters who formed a “hard core” within Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the external interests of the state over which HTS came to hold sway, and between honoring its …

The assassination of Haitham Ali Tabtabai, Hezbollah’s top military commander, deep inside Beirut’s southern suburbs has dramatically reshaped Lebanon’s internal security scene. Hours after the strike, Israel’s Alma Center published an updated chart of Hezbollah’s command structure that included senior political figures such as Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary …