Omphalos takes an interdisciplinary look at the contemporary Middle East, and is published jointly with two key partners: Academic Exchange, an educational non-profit that seeks to deepen understanding of Israel in the international academic community, and the Brookings Center for Middle East Policy and its blog, Markaz. Turmoil in today's Middle East today implicates a wide array of legal questions, bears huge costs for civilian populations, and poses diverse challenges to policymakers, activists, lawyers, and reformers. For the issues that Lawfare treats, the Middle East is a kind of omphalos.
The loss of Raqqa is a blow to the Islamic State, and hard times are ahead for the group. But expect it to try to continue exploiting instability in the region and working to inspire or direct attacks abroad.
Kurdish national aspirations in Iraq are collapsing, Trump decertifies the JCPOA but won’t say what he wants to change, and the Islamic State loses its de-facto capital.
Political Islam has been radically shifting in the past four years since the Egyptian coup and the emergence of ISIS, consequently challenging how we understand Islamist movements and their impact.
Trump's focus on the Iran deal misses the bigger issue: the need for a U.S. strategy to persuade Tehran to play a constructive role in the region.
Trump will send the Iran debate back to Congress, Turkey-U.S. feud over visas has roots in coup attempt, and King Salman’s big trip to Moscow.
Saudi Arabia softens some of its most extreme conservative laws, Kurdistan’s neighbors close ranks, and Egypt’s latest crackdown goes after gay men.
Tunisia's new corruption-amnesty law will undermine the country's progress toward democratic governance.
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