War & Conflict Archive

This Associated Press video shows rebels from the Free Syrian Army in one of their final battles to retain control of the northern stronghold of Idlib. World News Videos by NewsLook

As the fighting between the Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Awazad (MNLA) and the Malian army enters its third month, there are few indications that the conflict will be resolved in the near future. On a military level, the advantage lies with the well-equipped and experienced Tuareg fighters, many of whom are veterans of earlier rebellions and the Libyan civil war. Using long-range guerrilla tactics, mainly surprise attacks launched over distances of hundreds of miles with four-wheel-drive pickup trucks, they have sacked at least seven Malian garrison towns so far, including one this past weekend. […]

The past year could have been a disastrous one for U.N. peacekeeping. Twelve months ago, Côte d’Ivoire appeared to be on the brink of renewed civil war in spite of the presence there of United Nations and French forces. South Sudan’s vote for independence in January 2011 also had the potential to unleash mass violence. From Haiti to Liberia to the Democratic Republic of Congo, peacekeepers were charged with overseeing elections that might have resulted in significant instability. In Somalia, U.N.-mandated African Union (AU) forces were locked in grinding combat with Islamist al-Shabab rebels. The risk of one or more […]

It is still too soon to tell what effect, if any, Sunday’s appalling massacre of 16 innocent civilians by a U.S. soldier will have on the war in Afghanistan or on the relationship between the United States and the government of Afghanistan. This apparent war crime arrives fast on the heels of the infamous Quran burning incident that led to both riots across Afghanistan as well as the murder of several U.S. servicemen by the Afghans they were meant to be advising. Taken cumulatively, these events lead many to conclude that the U.S. and allied war in Afghanistan has reached […]

On March 5, the advocacy group Invisible Children uploaded a 30-minute documentary about Joseph Kony, the rebel leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The film was an effort to raise awareness about the LRA, which originated in Northern Uganda more than two decades ago and has since become known for its extreme brutality — including the kidnapping, rape and killing of tens of thousands of victims. Invisible Children achieved its goal: The video went viral, racking up 76 million views and counting, as the #StopKony hashtag flooded Facebook walls and Twitter feeds. But it has since been the subject […]

The wave of Arab Spring uprisings, and the regime violence that followed in countries such as Libya and Syria, has led to new flows of internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees, with those numbers increasing as the violence in Syria escalates. “The Arab Spring has affected a whole range of countries in North Africa and the Middle East, but the effect on refugees and IDPs is limited to a smaller number of countries,” said Khalid Koser, who heads the New Issues in Security Program at the Geneva Center for Security Policy. “The first reason for this has to do with […]

Since the spring of 2010, South Sudan has been facing an onslaught of militia activity in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states. For the most part, the government has pursued an “amnesty and integration” policy toward these militias, whereby members are offered amnesty for their past actions and integrated into the Southern People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the former rebel group that now comprises the majority of South Sudan’s official security forces. The notable exception to this approach was George Athor, the rebel general who arguably posed the greatest internal threat to the government. Having refused multiple government overtures to persuade […]

Stratfor Vice President of East Asia Analysis Rodger Baker discusses Myanmar’s attempts to resolve several ongoing ethnic conflicts in tandem with domestic political reform. World News Videos by NewsLook

Amateur videos purport to show the streets of Homs, now abandoned and scarred by the 27-day shelling from Syrian government forces. World News Videos by NewsLook

Washington’s successful efforts to kill top al-Qaida leaders, combined with the emergence of strong pro-democracy movements in the Muslim world, have led many to conclude that al-Qaida is fizzling out. But while the conventional wisdom increasingly portrays the group as becoming gradually but steadily a spent and irrelevant force, there is evidence that this optimistic conclusion is grossly premature. Judging by the mayhem and death toll the group is inflicting in several countries — including hundreds killed by its militants in just the past few days — al-Qaida appears to be catching a second wind. The dramatic Navy Seal operation […]

Last month, Saudi Arabia made a move to normalize one of the Middle East’s key diplomatic relationships when it announced that the Saudi ambassador to Jordan would also serve as ambassador to Iraq. Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Baghdad after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. Two decades later, tensions remain, compounded by Saudi suspicion of the Shiite government in Iraq. But now the two key U.S. allies are making headlines for the steps they are taking to improve bilateral relations. “At bare minimum I think what we’ve seen are good gestures on the parts of the people who lead […]

Tribal chiefs and militia commanders in Libya’s east have declared semi-autonomy for the oil-rich region. They made the announcement at a meeting in Benghazi. Leaders from the area known as Barqa, or Cyrenacia, said they had been neglected for decades under Muammar Gadhafi.

The debate among U.S. foreign policy analysts over the wisdom of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities — and whether or not America should allow itself to be drawn into an ensuing conflict with Iran should Israel strike — has largely taken place parallel to the debate over whether to pursue an R2P, or responsibility to protect, intervention in Syria. It bears noting, however, that forcing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s departure may be the best near-term policy for the U.S. to avoid being sucked into an Israeli-Iranian war. Clearly the Assad ruling clan deserves our best efforts short of […]

The veto by Russia and China in February of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down has stalled efforts by the U.S., its European allies and the Arab League to halt the bloody crackdown in Syria through U.N. action. Though the U.S. is currently drafting a new U.N. resolution, calls by some observers to arm the Syrian resistance have now been echoed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf Cooperation Council states eager to see the pro-Iranian Assad regime replaced by a Sunni-dominated government. Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined the ranks of […]

According to Reuters, an estimated 100,000 North Koreans have taken part in a rally to protest South Korea’s current round of joint military exercises with the United States. This video purportedly shows footage of the rally, although it does not specify when or where the demonstration took place. World News Videos by NewsLook

The conventional wisdom in U.S. policy circles is that China’s support for autocrats in the Middle East, most recently manifested by its veto of a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution sponsored by the Arab League that called for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad to step down, has placed Beijing on the wrong side of history. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking at the conclusion of the Friends of Syria conference in Tunis, warned the Chinese that “they are setting themselves against the aspirations not only of the Syrian people but of the entire Arab Spring.” The implication is that […]

When U.N. peacekeepers withdrew from Somalia in early 1995, a brief era of concerted international pressure aimed at bringing stability to the embattled Horn of Africa nation ended in defeat. The U.N. mandate to restore law and order in the Somali capital failed dismally: A shattered Mogadishu was abandoned, and prevailing wisdom deemed the country too difficult a challenge. Today, Somalia remains the globe’s archetypal “failed state,” plagued by pervasive poverty and endemic lawlessness. But faint glimmers of hope are now emerging. As Somalia prepares to draft a new constitution and end its period of transitional governance, indicators on the […]