News
Saudi Blockade, Impact on Food and Water Insecurity in Yemen
by Gabriel Giddens, MESC Academic Intern After consulting with Yemeni authorities in December 2015, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) issued a statement warning the international community…
Mosul Dam in Danger of Inundating Northern Iraq
The US Embassy in Baghdad issues a statement [1], including a fact sheet of the major concerns. Residents in the threatened areas are encouraged to move a minimum of 6 kilometers away from their…
Update on Syrian Migration
By Gabriel Giddens We posted on Syrian migration back in September, and hosted a conversation online. According to the UN, 50% of Syrians are now either internally displaced, have become refugees or…
Interview with the Director on Islamophobia, All Sides with Ann Fisher
Today the director of the Middle East Studies Center was interviewed along with Nathan Lean of Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative to discuss Islamophobia. You can listen to the entire program…
Russia's role in Syria, World
Although US and Russia both are supposedly working toward the same goal of destroying ISIL, they have many divergent goals as well. If indeed targeting Da’esh/ISIL is what both of them are working…
Dangerous, Crowded Airspace in Syria, Diverse Alliances, Some with Cold War Roots
The Middle East is growing more dangerous each day with conflicts multiplying. With the crowded airspace in Syria, the chance of either Russia or the U.S. hitting unintentional targets of each other…
Event: Aftermath of the Arab Spring
Last night's event hosted by the Arab Student Union at the Ohio State University, "Aftermath of the Arab Spring," was enjoyable and thought-provoking. Four distinguished panelists brought a variety…
Local and Global Context for Syrian Migration
We hosted a discussion on Syrian Migration on Thursday, September 17, 2015 - 2:00pm in our online video conference space: http://carmenconnect.osu.edu/mideast-headlines The Center director, Alam…
Dynamics of Conflict: Kurdish groups, Shi'i groups, and the Islamic State
The news this morning that Mullah Omar died is significant for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was in Pakistan. After the U.S. attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda positions in Afghanistan in 2001, he took…