MUST-READS

• UK Strikes ISIS in Iraq
  Britain Carries Out First Air Strikes Against IS In Iraq

  The British parliament last week approved a motion to join in a US-led military campaign against IS jihadists who have seized huge swathes of Iraq and Syria in recent months. The strikes signal the start of Britain's latest military engagement in Iraq after it pulled out all its troops in 2011 following an eight-year conflict. The government has said it will not send combat troops on the ground or join air strikes in Syria without further parliamentary approval.

  • Long War Journal - Islamic State ambushes Iraqi military column near Ramadi
  • USA Today - Turkey moves to use force in Syria and Iraq
  • Reuters - Kurds seize Iraq/Syria border post; Sunni tribe joins fight against Islamic State
• Israel and the UN
  In UN Address, Netanyahu Compares Iran to ISIL

  In 2012, Benjamin Netanyahu urged the United Nations to draw “a clear red line” to stop Iran from gaining nuclear capability, pointing to a homemade, cartoon graph of a bomb illustrating the threat. At the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, the Israeli prime minister continued the penchant for theatrics that have come to define his speeches to the annual caucus.

• ISIS and Abd al-Wahhab
  Opinion: How Saudi Arabia is distancing itself from the Islamic State

  In debates about terrorism and extremism in Saudi Arabia, extremism is repeatedly attributed to the era of Juhayman Ibn Muhammad ibn Sayf al-Otaybi, who in 1979 led extremists to take over the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The government at the time met the radicals’ demands and allowed them to implement their brand of conservatism through the media, education and other forms of public life. This era in Saudi history is called the Awakening, and Wahhabism at the time was not described as a source of extremism. Today, however, because of IS, there are discussions on the connection between Sunni jihadist extremism and Wahhabism inside and outside Saudi Arabia. This might eventually change the way Saudis see themselves.

  • Open Democracy - Opinion: What Arab partners will get in return for strikes on Syria
• Afghanistan
  Historic, anxious handover as Afghanistan swears in new leader

  Afghanistan inaugurates its first new president in a decade on Monday, swearing in technocrat Ashraf Ghani to head a power-sharing government just as the withdrawal of most foreign troops presents a crucial test.

• Qatari Foreign Policy
  Qatar and the Arab Spring: Policy Drivers and Regional Implications

  During the Arab Spring, Qatar moved away from its traditional foreign policy role as diplomatic mediator to embrace change in the Middle East and North Africa and support transitioning states. Regional actors viewed Qatar’s approach as overreaching, and skepticism of Doha’s policy motivations increased. Qatar’s new leadership, which came to power in June 2013, is adapting by reverting to a more pragmatic foreign policy and addressing the fallout from its support for Islamist movements in the region.

• Islamic State
  US Airstrikes Target the Islamic State’s Seized Syrian Oilfields

  At least 19 people were killed on the third day of a US-led air campaign targeting the Islamic State in Syria. Strikes focused on one of the group's main revenue streams — the region's captured oil fields.

  • NPR - Islamic State Defector: 'If You Turn Against ISIS, They Will Kill You'
  • Guardian - Parliament to be recalled to endorse UK air strikes in Iraq
  • Defense One - The Campaign Against ISIL Could Cost $1.5B a Month
  • Breaking Defense - Arab Allies Take Lead In Syria Airstrikes; F-22s Fade From View
  • McClatchy - CIA-vetted Syrian rebels battling Islamic State say airstrikes haven’t helped
  • AFP - Lebanon army raids Syria refugee camps as tents torched
• United Nations
  The Surprising Truth About the UN

  The key to using the UN correctly is to be realistic about where it can, by nature, make a difference, and where it risks being sandwiched between so many competing interests that its leaders are forced bend over backwards to please all sides and end up pleasing none.

• Saudi Airmen
  Saudi pilots receive online death threats after air strikes on Isis

  Saudi pilots who conducted air strikes on jihadis in Syria have received online death threats after photos were published of those involved, among them a son of the crown prince. Saudi Press Agency (SPA) released photographs of eight airmen it said were involved in Tuesday’s US-led operation, carried out with Gulf allies.

  • Fox News - Female Pilot Leads UAE Airstrikes Against ISIS
• After the Revolution: Sitting Down With Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi

• PLO and the UN
  Will Abbas walk the walk on his threats to Israel?

  He added, "The political clash with Israel will be represented by joining 520 conventions and international institutions; heading to the International Criminal Court [ICC] and filing complaints against Israel and its leaders; escalating the popular resistance in the Palestinian territories against the occupation and the settlers; repudiating all obligations and agreements; and canceling security coordination with Israel."

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