New Approaches to Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in the Art World
A few months ago, I wrote an article for Charged Affairs examining how a U.S. Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that incorporates a version of World War II’s...
Diplomacy in Action: Lessons from Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an
With over a hundred Americans being held captive by North African criminals, American diplomats in Europe frantically arranged a meeting the Libyan state-sponsored bandits. The meeting took place not in 2017 but in 1786, and the...
How Sectarianism Changed After the Arab Uprisings
Sectarianism has been used as a blanket explanation for all the Middle East’s ills, or completely dismissed as an epiphenomenon of more tangible struggles for territory and resources. But somewhere between these two positions...
The Shifting Priorities of Iraq
Almost two and a half years after ISIS took control of Mosul in early June 2014, the Iraqi army launched Operation Fatah, a military campaign aimed at regaining control of the city and its surrounding areas, on October 17, 2016....
Cultural Genocide Funds ISIS Art-for-Weapons Trade
The 57th Venice Biennale, which will run from May until November of this year in Italy, will push boundaries with an exhibit featuring 40 artifacts from the Iraq Museum of Baghdad, many of which have never left the country...
The Evolution of Sayyid Qutb: Radicalization on a Spectrum
In the West, Sayyid Qutb (Kut-Teb) is perhaps the most recognizable Islamist theorist. While it was Hassan al-Banna who founded the Muslim Brotherhood, Qutb was the most noted member. Qutb is credited with laying the...
Israel-Palestine Resolution and the Liberal World Order
The United States made headlines two days before Christmas by abstaining on a United Nations Security Council vote for a resolution of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank. The resolution, which the United States could have...
A New Ceasefire for a New Year
Turkey confiscated supplies from a Russian plane destined for Syria, Saudi Arabia armed the Syrian rebels, and the Free Syrian Army continued to benefit from the better equipped, funded, and experienced al-Qaeda fighters. This...
Towards Building a Palestinian State in 2017
Last month, the U.S. abstained on United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2334. The resolution critically condemned the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which much of the...
Beyond the Caliphate: The Emni and ISIL’s Global Exportation of Terror
In April 2014, in what quickly made al-Qaeda’s jihadist hegemony look passé, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) blazed through Syria and Iraq, ravaging cities and penetrating power structures to force its...