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The Ministry of Oil (MoO) in Baghdad has accused provincial officials and local police of raiding an oilfield being developed by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

The more methodical and thoughtful approach that Sunni insurgents are taking in their campaigns to undermine the government in Baghdad has led many to speculate about the role of former Baathists in

Following the failed attempt of a Nigerian engineering student Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab to blow up Northwest Airlines’ Flight 253 over the United States last December, Yemen received unprecedented global attention. The media focus has dropped somewhat since then, but the region remains the subject of considerable concern

GSN wrote about the beginnings of “the next insurgency” in Iraq in April 2009, describing meetings between Iraqi Sunni leaders and Baathist insurgents, which were characterised as a “long-term hedging of bets” by both parties ahead of the US drawdown and the assumption of full control by the Shia-led government in Baghdad. Sources within the US and Iraqi government intelligence systems believe this next insurgency is starting to unfold.

As James Mattis settles in as the new head of US Central Command, one of his first major regional strategy reviews is US security assistance to Yemen

The United States is continuing to support a number of border security initiatives in Yemen. The annual $300,000 State Department support for the US-installed Personal Identification Secure

An unspoken aspect of the remaining US presence in Iraq is Washington’s option of defending Iraq against major foreign or domestic threats.

The Saudi-Kuwaiti technical committee for border demarcation has signed a contract with New Zealand’s NZ Aerial Mapping. China and Qatar agreed to boost military co-operation at a meeting of senior military officials in Beijing

UAE joint defence committee with US; Mayall tour of UAE and Yemen; Yemeni coastguard base on Miyoun Island

With the 31 August deadline looming for the withdrawal of US combat forces in Iraq, GSN has visited locations across the country to conduct a wide-ranging assessment of the security situation and the likely impact of withdrawal. We asked what the drawdown would mean on the ground and whether the Iraqi Security Forces will cope.

Across Iraq the Iraqi Security Forces are less motivated by a need to defeat the remaining cadre of militants. There is a pervasive sense that the security issue is mostly under control and that (in most places) the insurgents are finished and do not

GSN will explore the texts in more detail in a future edition, but some quotes are worth highlighting now. In particular, Hegghammer provides a succinct summation of the failure of Al-Qaeda in the

Ursula Brennan’s Riyadh visit, Military delegation in Yemen, Border controls

The recruitment and fundraising activities of Hayla Al-Qusayir, who was captured with 113 AQAP members in March, has highlighted the vital work of women in supporting terrorist cells

There is always something new and surprising to learn about militancy in Saudi Arabia, and Al-Qaeda’s pledge to kidnap royals and foreigners has revealed interesting features of the evolving threat