MDC Research and Analysis

Alexander Takele analyzes the improvement in the fortunes of the al-Shabaab jihadi-salafi militant group.

MDC Senior Research Fellow Ofra Bengio outlines the importance of Kirkuk to the Kurdish Region of Iraq and explains the elements of the Kurdish leadership's strategy for advancing towards independence.

Ariel Koch investigates the anti-Islamic ideology of websites being used to recruit Western Christian volunteers to fight in Iraq and Syria - an ideology also reflected in violence against Muslims in Europe and North America.

Gilad Shiloach studies the means by which ISIS maintains the threat of terrorism in areas beyond Iraq and Syria, where it is suffering territorial losses.

Raz Zimmt analyzes the responses on Iranian social media to Hassan Rouhani’s victory in the 2017 Iranian presidential elections, and the demands for reforms that users directed at their newly re-elected president.

Ceng Sagnic analyzes Turkey's involvement in the Gulf crisis to support Qatar against a Saudi-led bloc and potential scenarios for the future regarding such support.

Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) discusses the imperative and difficulty of Turkey’s pushback against Kurdish and Iranian-backed militant groups in the Sinjar district of Iraq.

Senior Research Fellow Paul Rivlin examines the Qatar crisis and the potential economic ramifications for Qatar.

Prof. Ofra Bengio analyzes the place of Kirkuk in the current Kurdish campaign for independence. In Hebrew.