January, 2026

• 5 January

  From Jihadi to Islamist: Ahmad al-Sharaa and His Critics

  On December 8, 2024, Syrian rebels led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized power in Damascus following a ten-day offensive, bringing a swift and unexpected end to the Asad regime’s decades’ long rule. The question now is what comes next. In the past, HTS’s leader, Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, had praised …

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• 5 January

  The Centrality of Iraq and Syria to the Islamic State’s Caliphate

  Despite reports of the Islamic State’s growing threat in the Horn of Africa and the leadership’s alleged relocation to the Puntland region in Somalia, the central lands of Iraq and Syria, the original area of the group’s territorial caliphate announced in June 2014, continue to occupy a key place in …

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• 5 January

  Israeli army arrests six young men in southwestern Syria

  

  An Israeli army unit advanced into the village of Kudna in the southern countryside of Quneitra province (southwestern Syria) and arrested five young men while they were searching for wild mushrooms. The local Facebook page “Quneitra Now”, which operates in the province, reported that the Israeli army smashed a motorcycle …

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• 5 January

  After deaths and injuries on Syria’s coast, Defense Ministry says army intervenes to maintain security

  

  The Media and Communications Directorate at the Syrian Ministry of Defense said that Syrian army groups, backed by armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, entered the centers of Latakia and Tartus after attacks escalated by groups it described as “outlaws,” targeting residents and security forces. In a statement carried by …

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• 5 January

  Secret Israeli pact ‘lies behind threat to dissidents and Gulf status quo’

  

  Israel is behind a secret pact with the United Arab Emirates to destroy Saudi Arabia’s role as the Gulf’s regional powerbroker. The astonishing claim is just one of a series of sensational statements made by a senior Arab royal whistle blower to Middle East Monitor on Tuesday evening. The news …

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• 5 January

  Overfulfillment of the clan: having promoted Tkachev to the head of military counterintelligence, Sechin will sweep away not only the FSB, but also the army

  

  Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin has once again emerged victorious from a behind-the-scenes battle for key positions in the FSB leadership. His close associate, General Ivan Tkachev, previously reported on by The Insider, has been appointed head of the FSB’s Military Counterintelligence Department (MCD). In the mid-2000s, Sechin virtually dominated the …

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• 5 January

  The Saudis’ Threats Against South Yemen Expose Their Geopolitical Motives

  

  They expect to obtain a client state in at least part of Yemen as their reward for fighting the Houthis. The Southern Transitional Council (STC) claimed that Saudi Arabia carried out warning airstrikes in proximity to its forces, which followed this South Yemeni separatist group dismissing the Saudis’ demand to …

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• 5 January

  Poland Is Expanding Its Influence Over The Baltics Through The “Via Baltica” Highway

  

  The “EU Defense Line” that’s being built, which refers to the combination of the “Baltic Defense Line” and Poland’s “East Shield” along NATO’s eastern border, might then be bolstered by Polish-led troop deployments seeing as how Poland would be integral to those three’s survival in any war with Russia. Polish …

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• 5 January

  Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 27, 2025

  Toplines Russian forces are currently unable to build out a strategic reserve and will therefore likely be constrained to grinding, slow advances at their current rate and scale in the coming year. Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Head Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne on December 27 …

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• 5 January

  Turkey’s quiet power play in the Red Sea turns Somalia into a proxy

  The decisive shift in the Red Sea corridor is not in Yemen but in Somalia – where Turkey has built an offshore chapter of a strategic order the world refuses to face. The Houthis and Iran fill headlines, but the centre of gravity has shifted: a NATO state is projecting …

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