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 in the Middle East from the 'war on terror' and the Iraq war to today, frequently foreshadowing the evolving uprisings and conflicts in the region and providing context and analysis.

This selection takes as its focus the arc of a series of key events: the ‘war on terror,’ the invasion of Iraq, Israel’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza, the rumblings of unrest leading into the Arab Spring, the crisis in Syria, and finally back to Iraq with ISIL’s declaration of an ‘Islamic State.’ It also highlights a recurring theme: the major underlying security threat posed by social injustice and climate change – not just regionally, but globally. Mariam Ali