Middle East

2020 ◽  
pp. 124-145
Author(s):  
Danilo Mandić
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Money Laundering ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
The Other ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Turkish Government ◽  
Separatist Movement ◽  
Palestinians In Israel

This chapter surveys four torn states in the Middle East. Turkey and its Kurdish separatist movement regularly accuse each other of mobilizing organized crime to brutalize the other. Both are correct. The Turkish government mobilized gangsters (gunrunners, mercenaries, and assassins) as instruments of antiseparatist crackdown. Profiting on the side, these gangsters nevertheless remained patriotic and indisputably state controlled. Mafias also sustained Kurdish separatists in Turkey (through narcotics, arms, extortion, and money laundering), the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria (oil, extortion, theft, and gangs), and Gazan Palestinians in Israel (tunnel smuggling). In contrast, Yemen and the Houthis were both sabotaged in their efforts by a state dependent — but utterly disloyal — mafia operating qat and arms rackets.

Middle East jihadist splits will widen despite defeats

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
The Other ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Syrian Conflict ◽  
Hostile Attitude

Significance However, even in this extremity, it maintains a hostile attitude to old enemy Islamic State (IS). In Yemen, the other regional country where the two come into close contact, the local al-Qaida branch in its August 28 newsletter also strongly attacked IS, accusing it of fomenting intra-Muslim divisions. Impacts Even those al-Qaida supporters claiming to see a more ‘moderate’ trend in IS only identify a long-term possibility of rapprochement. As the Syrian conflict winds down, IS and HTS may step up competition, as insurgent cells launch terrorist attacks from desert bases. Splits between the different al-Qaida branches could worsen as some seek more pragmatic alliances and others prioritise ideological purity. In Yemen, al-Qaida’s deeper societal roots will give it greater long-term resilience than IS.

The Art Market

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Pieth
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Money Laundering ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Art Market ◽  
The Other ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Regulatory Pressure ◽  
War Effort ◽  
The One ◽  
Heads Of State

This chapter covers the worldwide art markets that as a group have experienced a dramatic surge in corruption over the last decade. The reasons given for this extraordinary growth rate are on the one hand the low return on classic investments or investment tools since the crisis of 2008 and on the other hand the regulatory pressure on the banking system. Abuses are rather diversified with problematic transactions including trading in looted objects (be it looted by the Nazis or items from illegal digging in Tuscani, or more recently even the systemic exploitation of antiquities by the “Islamic State” to fund their war effort), professional counterfeiting and fake or incorrect certificates, or the sale of art for the purpose of money laundering. Of course, here all sorts of graft and illicit enrichment (e.g. by heads of state, ministers, or other officials), come into play.

scholarly journals THE „HAWALA SYSTEM“ - BETWEEN CUSTOMARY LAW AND ORGANIZED CRIME

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Ivan Geshev ◽  
Nikolay Marin
Keyword(s):  
Money Laundering ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Criminal Groups ◽  
The One ◽  
Conventional Type

The article aims to reveal the nature and specifics of the alternative method of modern banking ‘Hawala’, which makes it on the one hand, extremely convenient for use by organized criminal groups, and on the other, difficult to be investigated and proven. The authors trace Hawala’s historical roots, referring to the ancient customary law, and point out the strict rules on which it operates. It highlights that, with the development of information technologies, the Hawala systems’ principles have found a new application, from which organized criminal groups benefit. The article clarifies how the Bulgarian legislation incriminates money laundering and the possible use of the ‘Hawala’ system for this and other criminal activities. Attention is paid to the Bulgarian experience in the investigation of a network of persons involved in the use of the Hawala method for concealing, particularly serious crimes. The conclusion is made that the Hawala phenomenon poses a serious threat to the rule of law in any country, and the Bulgarian legislation needs to be adapted in order to provide effective mechanisms to counter such non-conventional type of crime.

Territorial Diaspora Politics

2019 ◽  
pp. 83-103
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Place Of Origin ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Autonomous State ◽  
Diaspora Politics ◽  
Diasporic Communities

This chapter focuses on the classical or traditional definition of diaspora as it relates to a place of origin and/or an attachment to a homeland (whether real or perceived). The chapter highlights theories of classical diaspora and provides an in-depth analysis into the contemporary Kurdish situation of statelessness and increased claims to land (due to their involvement with the fight against the Islamic State). The chapter also makes brief mention of the other prominent case of contemporary diaspora politics in the Middle East, that of the Palestinians. The chapter explains the struggle of the Kurds to self-determination and to establish an autonomous state, and highlights the adoption and use of digital technologies by diasporic communities, which allows for the facilitation of diasporic communities and networks that transcend traditional borders.

scholarly journals The Kurds in the changing political map of the Middle East

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-81
Author(s):  
Michael M Gunter
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
World War I ◽  
The United States ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
World War ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Turkish Government ◽  
Middle East Politics ◽  
Kurdistan Workers Party

This article examines how the rise of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the on-going Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) insurgency and current peace negotiations with the Turkish government, and the recently declared autonomy by the Syrian Kurds—largely under the leadership of the Democratic Union Party (PYD)—have empowered the Kurds and challenged the existing political map of the Middle East largely established after World War I. At the same time this article also considers the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as one of the other main tipping points changing the Middle East political map. The roles and policies of Turkey and the United States to these transformations are also analysed.Keywords: Kurds; ISIS; Middle East; politics; Syria; Iraq; KRG; Turkey.Kurd di xerîteya siyasî ya Rojhilata Navîn a di guherînê deArmanca vê gotarê ew e tehlîl bike ka duristbûna Hukûmeta Herêma Kurdistanê, serhildana berdewam a Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê û danûstandinên aştiyê ligel hukûmeta Tirkiyeyê, û ew otonomiya ku kurdên Sûriyeyê, heyamên dawî, piranî di bin pêşengiya Partiya Yekîtiya Demokratîk de ragihandin çawa kurd bihêz kirine û çawa hevsengiya xerîteya siyasî ya Rojhilata Navîn, ya bi piranî li dû Şerê Cîhanî yê Yekem hatiye binecihkirin, xistiye ber birparsyaran. Gotar herwiha balê dikêşe ser peydabûna Dewleta Îslamî li Iraq û Sûriyeyê wek xaleke dîtir a werçerxanê di guherîna xerîteya siyasî ya Rojhilata Navîn de. Herwiha, dewr û siyasetên Tirkiye û Dewletên Yekgirtî yên Emerîkayê yên di barê van guherînan de jî hatine tehlîlkirin.

An Analysis of ISIS Propaganda and Recruitment Activities Targeting the Turkish-Speaking Population

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suleyman Ozeren ◽  
Hakan Hekim ◽  
M. Salih Elmas ◽  
Halil Ibrahim Canbegi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The Other ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
The World ◽  
Recruitment Activities ◽  
Foreign Fighters

AbstractThe “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) is the main source of instability, not only in Iraq and Syria, but also throughout the Middle East. The instability poses a danger for the other parts of the world because of the influx of foreign fighters to the region. Extremists have taken advantage of the continuing conflicts in Iraq and Syria, with Syria in particular serving as a magnet for thousands of foreign fighters from more than 90 countries. While most of these ISIS combatants are men, many women have left their countries behind to join the “caliphate” and support its cause. Social media have played a key role in luring women to join ISIS. This study therefore analyzed the ISIS organization’s social media propaganda and grass-roots recruitment activities aimed at women in Turkey. The results of the analysis provide important information about the strategies that ISIS uses to spread its ideology.

The Enemy of My Enemy Is Not My Friend: Arabic Twitter Sentiment toward ISIS and the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Romney ◽  
Amaney A Jamal ◽  
Robert O Keohane ◽  
Dustin Tingley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Islamic State

Abstract A counter-intuitive finding emerges from an analysis of Arabic Twitter posts from 2014 to 2015: Twitter participants who are negative toward the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) are also more likely to hold negative views of the United States. This surprising correlation is due to the interpretations of two sets of users. One set of users views the United States and ISIS negatively as independent interventionist powers in the region. The other set of users negatively links the United States with ISIS, often asserting a secretive conspiracy between the two. The intense negativity toward the United States in the Middle East seems conducive to views that, in one way or another, cause citizens to link the United States and ISIS in a conspiratorial manner.

Review: Islam and politics in Iranian Kurdistan at a time of revolution: the life of Ahmad Moftizadeh

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-87
Author(s):  
Martin Van Bruinessen
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Islam And Politics ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Revolutionary Regime

Ali Ezzatyar, The Last Mufti of Iranian Kurdistan: Ethnic and Religious Implications in the Greater Middle East. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. xv + 246 pp., (ISBN 978-1-137-56525-9 hardback).For a brief period in 1979, when the Kurds had begun confronting Iran’s new Islamic revolutionary regime and were voicing demands for autonomy and cultural rights, Ahmad Moftizadeh was one of the most powerful men in Iranian Kurdistan. He was the only Kurdish leader who shared the new regime’s conviction that a just social and political order could be established on the basis of Islamic principles. The other Kurdish movements were firmly secular, even though many of their supporters were personally pious Muslims.

The Legacy of Iraq

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Iraq War ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
The World ◽  
Free Market Capitalism ◽  
Market Capitalism

This book critically reflects on the failure of the 2003 intervention to turn Iraq into a liberal democracy, underpinned by free-market capitalism, its citizens free to live in peace and prosperity. The book argues that mistakes made by the coalition and the Iraqi political elite set a sequence of events in motion that have had devastating consequences for Iraq, the Middle East and for the rest of the world. Today, as the nation faces perhaps its greatest challenge in the wake of the devastating advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and another US-led coalition undertakes renewed military action in Iraq, understanding the complex and difficult legacies of the 2003 war could not be more urgent. Ignoring the legacies of the Iraq War and denying their connection to contemporary events could mean that vital lessons are ignored and the same mistakes made again.

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