Paul Rogers has been writing a weekly column on global security for openDemocracy since 28 September 2001. From this invaluable archive, here we foreground his work on the unfolding crisis
ISIL's planners are looking beyond the military stalemate in Iraq. In this context, Israel's attacks on Gaza are a gift to the movement.
An unlikely alliance of four states is coalescing to oppose the ISIS advance in Iraq. But the group may not wait to be challenged.
An escalating conflict across much of northern Iraq and Syria involves a kaleidoscope of forces, with Iran and Saudi Arabia playing a key role.
ISIL is now intent on consolidating its military gains in Iraq. Any western intervention would play into the group's hands.
The shadow of the United States-Israel military relationship looms over Tony Blair's peace-envoy role in the middle east.
[This article was first published on 28 June 2007]
Tony
The lightning advance of Islamist fighters across northern Iraq has dangerous echoes of the founding event of the "war on terror" .
The Damascus regime is winning its war for survival; Syria's conflict will continue and even escalate. In the morass, diplomacy remains vital to any progress.
The global financial elite has ignored the radical lessons of the post-2007 crisis. But these are needed more than ever.
The jihadist campaigns, from Syria and Iraq to Kenya and Nigeria, have a religious focus. But their deeper trigger is the marginalisation created by a failing economic system.
What do events in Syria-Iraq, Egypt, Somalia-Kenya and Nigeria reveal about al-Qaida's condition? The movement has again commissioned advice from its preferred management consultancy, whose unrivalled sources inform a stark analysis.
The interrupted campaign to eradicate polio worldwide reflects the spread of conflict and insecurity since 2001.
