The 20th century was a time in the Middle East when nominally secular dictators espousing notions of pan-Arabism — the ideology of uniting the “Arab World” and downplaying or crushing the different cultural aspects of the region’s innumerable sectarian groups…

(This update has been added to Mr. Smyth’s piece, “Arming the Free Syrian Army,” which was posted Tuesday on our main site.) For some time, official Turkish spokesmen have denied the FSA was receiving arms from or through Turkey. In…

In many modern wars, small-arms have been at the forefront of most operations. When taking on enemies of much greater size and scope, individually wielded weapons are often all that stands between survival and being crushed. The supply, acquisition, and…

Ever since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, media reports have typically drawn a contrast between the relatively prosperous the areas of Iraq under the jurisdiction of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the rest of the country. For example,…