Author Archives: jonathanspyer

Unknown's avatar

About jonathanspyer

Jonathan Spyer is a Middle East analyst, author and journalist specializing in the areas of Israel, Syria and broader issues of regional strategy. He is the director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and analysis (MECRA), a research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for strategy and Security (JISS) and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

The House the Muslim Brothers Built

Posted on August 25, 2012 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 23/8 The recent events in Sinai are the latest evidence of Egypt’s rapid transformation under the ascendancy of the Muslim Brotherhood. They are only the most visible manifestation of the Brotherhood’s project in the largest Arab state. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Silence Speaks Volumes

Posted on August 20, 2012 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 17/8. Lebanon’s former information minister, Michel Samaha, who is closely linked to the embattled regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, was arrested in Lebanon last week. Samaha has since confessed to involvement in the transfer of explosives from … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Turks Fear ‘Kurdish Spring’

Posted on August 15, 2012 by jonathanspyer

Turkish forces have launched a major offensive in recent days against positions held by the PKK rebel movement in the area of the Turkish-Iraqi border. Up to 2,000 troops are taking part in the operation, according to Turkish media sources. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Collateral Damage

Posted on August 4, 2012 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 4/8. Brigadier-General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of the Iranian armed forces, told a reporter this week that Iran would ‘not allow the enemy to advance’ in Syria. He said that no need had yet arisen for direct Iranian … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Battle for Two Cities

Posted on July 30, 2012 by jonathanspyer

The Syrian regime is pouring all available resources into its defense of the two main cities of Syria: Damascus and Aleppo. While simultaneously constructing an Alawi enclave in the northwest, the Assads understand that maintaining control of these central urban … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Is the Palestinian national movement dying?

Posted on July 27, 2012 by jonathanspyer

There is a strong case for saying that the Fatah-led Palestinian national movement, as we have known it from the late 60s onward, is fading from the scene. But while in practical terms the Palestinian national movement is an increasing … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Syrian Diplomat: Regime carried out Damascus bombings

Posted on July 16, 2012 by jonathanspyer

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Nawaf Fares, a senior Syrian diplomat who defected to the rebel side asserted that the Assad regime was responsible for a major act of terror in Damascus, which was blamed at the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

War by other means: The Revolutionary Guards Corps fights sanctions on Iran’s energy sector

Posted on July 14, 2012 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 13/7. Iran announced this week that it is set to transfer responsibility for part of its oil sales to three newly established private consortiums. This move is intended to counter the impact of an EU ban on importation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Sovereignty of Violence

Posted on July 12, 2012 by jonathanspyer

‘And as our vineyards, fallows, meads and hedges, defective in their natures, grow to wildness, even so our houses and ourselves and children have lost, or do not learn for want of time, the sciences that should become our country, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Sunni Islamism Stirs in Lebanon

Posted on July 7, 2012 by jonathanspyer

As the civil war in Syria grinds on and assumes an increasingly sectarian character, echoes of the strife are being heard across the border in Lebanon. The main beneficiary of the Arab uprisings of the last year has been Sunni … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment