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Key allies: The US is the big one, but there's been plenty of security cooperation with Israel, too, ever since the countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.
The Syrian military has been locked in a devastating civil war for more than three years. Originally, the military was a mixed conscription and professional force. But during the civil war, large numbers of mostly Sunni conscripts, and even some Sunni generals, defected to the Free Syrian Army, a coalition of rebel groups fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
This has caused the military to become increasingly sectarian as the vast majority of the Syrian regime's professional officers are Alawites loyal to the Assad regime, which is composed mostly of members of the religious minority group.
Syria received most of its weaponry from Russia. In 2008, Syria purchased MiG-29 fighter jets and Pantsir S1E air-defense systems from Moscow in an attempt to modernize its military. For the most part, the Syrian arsenal is composed of weaponry that was purchased from the Soviet Union, and Russia has its only naval base in the Mediterranean in Latakia.
Before the civil war, Syria had one of the most powerful conventional militaries in the entire region, along with an integrated air-defense system that was thought to be one of the more comprehensive in the world. Today the regime's military is much diminished — but it still has an operable air force and an order of battle in which it has managed to hold onto the most strategic parts of the country in spite of efforts from both Islamist and secular rebel groups.
Harmer notes that Syria is "100 percent dependent" on outside sourcing for its hardware, relying on Russia and Iran to keep its military standing. He added that a deeply unpopular regime has had to confiscate passports and impose other forms of travel restrictions to prevent future conscripts from fleeing the country. Even so, the Syrian military has held up as a coherent fighting force under incredible pressure. "They've outperformed everyone's expectations," he says.
Key allies: If it weren't for Russia and Iran, the Assad regime might have fallen by now.
The Egyptian Armed Forces is one of the oldest and largest militaries in the Middle East. The Egyptian military has existed in its current iteration since 1952, and the military has played a direct role in Egyptian politics since the country's founding — current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the military's former commander in chief.
The US has provided Egypt with over $70 billion in aid since 1948, most of which came in the form of an annual $1.3 billion military assistance fund established after Egypt and Israel signed a peace deal in 1979. Because of this assistance, Egypt has replaced a mostly Soviet-provided arsenal with US-produced arms.
Egypt has over 1,000 M1A1 Abrams tanks, many of which sit in storage and have never been used. Egypt also coproduces M1A1 tanks domestically. The Egyptian Air Force has 221 F-16 fighter jets, alongside a range of other US-provided aircraft.
But the military's operational abilities are highly suspect, and it has had trouble fighting terrorists and insurgents in the Sinai. It has discussed future arms purchases with Russia but only because of a falling-out with Washington over the summer 2013 military coup that put Sisi in power.
Key allies: The US and Saudi Arabia — although security cooperation between Israel and Egypt has picked up since the summer 2013 coup in Cairo.
Iran has faced arms embargoes put in place by the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution and the embassy hostage crisis that followed. In response, Iran has developed its own domestic military industry under the guidance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Iran has been building its own tanks and long-range missiles since 1992, as well as reverse-engineering its own drones. This means that Iran fields inferior equipment compared with many of its US-supplies neighbors — but gains crucial strategic depth in return.
It has an uninterrupted supply chain to its allies, like Syria's Assad regime. And it doesn't have to depend on the good will of an outside power to remain armed.
"Thirty-five years ago, Iran had no local production capability," Harmer says. "Now they build their own submarines and surface ships. Nobody in the Middle East does that, not even the Israelis."
Iran also maintains a number of US weapons that the country had purchased prior to its 1979 revolution, along with foreign weapons it bought afterward. Among these weapons are US-made F-14 Tomcats and Russian-built Su-24s and Su-25s.
Iran has been involved in numerous proxy conflicts, including funneling supplies and fighters into Iraq, Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon. The militant organization Hezbollah is largely an extension of Iranian foreign policy into the Arab Middle East.
That doesn't make Iran a major conventional military power, though. As Megahan says, the military is hampered by corruption and poor leadership, with regime loyalty often mattering more than merit among the officer corps. Iran has invested heavily in building its own weaponry, including ballistic missiles. It's all unproven.
"They try really hard to have an indigenous military industry," he says. "There not a lot of evidence to suggest that it's actually really going well."
Key allies: Syria, Shi'ite militant groups in Iraq and Lebanon, and Sudan.
The United Arab Emirate's Union Defense Force is headquartered in Abu Dhabi and boasts diversified military equipment from the US, Russia, UK, Ukraine, France, Italy, and Germany.
Simply put, it's the Middle East's rising military power. The UAE has bought new weapons systems, upgraded its existing ones, brought in American trainers and contractors, and instituted universal military service for males. It has been closely involved in the fight against ISIS, and it secretly deployed jets from Egypt to bomb Islamist militants within Libya without US support.
Megahan says that the UAE's air force has upgraded its planes to the point where it flies some of the most advanced F-16's on earth. It has even looked into purchasing the F-35. Emirate defense spending has increased by 85% since 2004, and it has now cracked the top 15 of global defense spenders— incredibly for a country with only 9 million citizens.
Key allies: The US and other Gulf monarchies.
The territorially largest country in the Middle East also has the fourth-highest military spending of any country in the world. The country's arms buildup has largely been driven by sales from the US and other Western countries.
As a result, Saudi Arabia has the most updated arsenal in the region, with the exception of Israel. Its air force has air-to-air refueling capabilities and advanced fighter jets.
"Saudi Arabia has a lot of air capabilities that a lot of the countries in the region don't have," Megahan said, adding that it was plausible the Saudis could soon have a more advanced air force than even Israel.
Saudi Arabia is in a tough neighborhood — the country borders Iraq and Yemen, two of the most chronically unstable countries in the region. But with 36% of the population under the age of 24, a sclerotic monarchy, and sectarian tensions, Saudi Arabia might be building its military strength with future internal turmoil in mind.
Indeed, Harmer says that Saudi Arabia's national guard — which is responsible for internal security, and not organized with external defense in mind — is one of the most capable security forces in the entire region.
Key allies: The relationship with the US has been flagging in recent years, but the two are still close partners and Saudi Arabia is still a major purchaser of US arms. Saudi Arabia is the most powerful of the tightly allied Gulf monarchies, a group that includes Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, and Riyadh has provided substantial assistance to the post-coup government in Egypt. It is also speculated that Saudi Arabia has secretly funded Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
The Turkish Armed Forces is composed of a mix of conscript and professional soldiers. Conscription lasts up to a year, though it can be avoided by paying a fee. Turkey is a member of NATO, and it also contributes operational staff to the Eurocorps multinational army initiative. NATO has stationed Patriot missiles within the country as a defense against missile attacks from Syria.
Since 1998, Turkey has attempted to modernize its military, which has started production of a native next-generation tank. Turkey produces a lot of advanced defense technology in-country now, Megahan says: "We're seeing more Turkish-made systems in the Turkish military, whereas before it was a lot of American equipment."
Turkey is also committed to purchasing the F-35 fifth-generation fighter jet, and it produces a range of parts for the aircraft in an attempt to bolster its avionics industry. The country also fields a fleet of more than 200 F-16s.
The Turkish Armed Forces have not been involved in a traditional war since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. However, Turkey's enormous and NATO-allied military has battled an asymmetric Kurdish separatist movement since the 1980s.
Key allies: The US, as well as dozens of European militaries — Turkey is the only NATO member in the region.
The Israel Defense Forces has defended against a diverse range of enemies since the country achieved independence in 1948. Israel has successfully fought large conventional armies, like the Egyptian and Syrian militaries in 1967 and 1972, as well as asymmetrical foes, like Palestinian militant groups.
Israel has a conscription system in which most Jewish and Druze citizens of the country are required to serve in the military for either two or three years. A close defense relationship with the US and an energetic domestic defense industry give Israel a qualitative edge over all of the region's other militaries: Israel has space assets, advanced fighter jets, high-tech armed drones, and nuclear weapons. Its air force has incredibly high entry and training standards. "Pilot to pilot, airframe to airframe, the Israeli air force is the best in the world," Harmer says.
Israel also has one of the region's most battle-ready armies, a force that has fought in four major engagements since 2006 and has experience securing a few of the most problematic borders on earth.
Israel's military has also never attempted a coup or ruled the country directly, unlike several others on this list.
Thanks to Israel's small size, the military can rapidly mobilize its reserves on relatively short notice.
Key allies: The US is the major one, though Israel enjoys a degree of security cooperation with Jordan and Egypt.
The former Al Qaeda in Iraq carved out a safe haven in Syria amid the country's disintegration in 2012. Within a year, the group had reconstituted itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and had been kicked out of Al Qaeda for its extremism and region-wide ambitions. Today ISIS rules over nearly 6 million people spread out over a slice of Iraq and Syria that is roughly the size of Belgium. It is perhaps the world's richest terrorist organization and has scored victories against a wide range of regional militaries and irregular forces.
ISIS is fighting the Assad regime, the Iraqi military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Kurdish peshmerga, various Iranian-supported Shi'ite militias, and local Iraqi militant groups, all while being subjected to US airstrikes. The group has ransacked government weapons stashes in both Syria and Iraq. It is also recruiting and disseminating propaganda through sophisticated use of social media.
Even fighting on multiple fronts, the self-declared Islamic State is a force to be reckoned with and is positioning itself to be a regional or even global menace for years to come.
Key allies: None. Even Al Qaeda wants nothing to do with it. Even so, the group has managed to attract thousands of foreign fighters.
Lebanon's Shi'ite Islamist militia dates from the early 1980s and was established with the help of Iran, the group's major state sponsor. Hezbollah is obligated to disarm under the 1989 Taif Agreement, but during the 1990s Syrian occupation of Lebanon, Hezbollah was allowed to keep its arms and act as a proxy force for Damascus and Tehran. Today, Hezbollah serves Iranian interests by keeping Lebanon from drifting too close to the Western or Sunni Arab bloc, intervening on Tehran's behalf in Syria, and serving as both a military deterrent and expeditionary force against Israel.
Hezbollah is a sectarian militia meant to defend Lebanon's long-marginalized Shi'ite community. The group's scope and arsenal suggests greater ambitions: Hezbollah has about 100,000 rockets, more than all but a handful of the world's official militaries. Hezbollah cells have been found on five continents, and the group commands a formidable global smuggling empire. Hezbollah has launched successful terrorist attacks in South America and Europe — most recently, Hezbollah operatives bombed a bus full of Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in 2012. And Hezbollah was most likely responsible for the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri, then the most powerful Sunni political figure in Lebanon.
The group can also hold its own on the battlefield. It effectively forced the Israeli army out of southern Lebanon in 2000 and fought Israel to a standstill during a July 2006 escalation. More recently, Hezbollah provided the muscle that swung the decisive battle of Qusayr — and with it the Syrian civil war — for the Assad regime in early 2013.
The Palestinian Islamist movement has been responsible for thousands of attacks against Israeli civilian targets. But the group is almost unusual among non-state actors in the region for its ability to impose its rule on a single territory for a long period of time — before a September power-sharing agreement with the Palestinian Authority, Hamas was the sole ruler of the Gaza Strip for more than seven years.
Although its arsenal was badly depleted during its war against Israel this past summer, the group has been adept at replenishing its arms stash — Gaza is the end-point of weapons smuggling networks that reach all the way to Sudan, Iran, and Libya. Hamas lost hundreds of fighters and a network of cross-border attack tunnels during the recent war but ended the conflict still in control of Gaza, suggesting that even Israel recognizes the group as a permanent, if perhaps unwelcome, feature in the Middle Eastern scene.
Key allies:Qatar, Turkey, and Iran.
AQAP is widely thought to be the Al Qaeda affiliate most committed to attacking the US. The "underwear bomber" who attempted to blow up a transatlantic flight in December 2009 received support and training from AQAP. It also provided a safe haven for radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who had a role in inspiring the 2009 shooting attack in Fort Hood, Texas.
The group takes advantage of the relative safe haven offered by Yemen's desert wilderness, a remote corner of a poor and chaotic country. It pulled off an attack in Sa'ana in May 2012 that killed more than 100 people, and it remains a regional security threat despite being the target of sustained US drone strikes. The group has also repeatedly plotted strikes against US targets, even if none have been successful yet.
Key allies: The rest of Al Qaeda.
With ISIS' rapid gains over the past couple of months, it's easy to forget it is not the only jihadist group in Syria. Jabhat al Nusra has been around longer than ISIS and has a few major sticking points with the Islamic State: JaN is an Al Qaeda affiliate, while ISIS was kicked out of the organization in February 2013. Despite their shared jihadist ideology, the two have fought each other with just as much intensity as they have fought their various other enemies in the region.
JaN has also shown a willingness to fight alongside at least some of Syria's secular rebels. It has pulled off a few of the more notable terrorist attacks of the conflict, enlisting the first American suicide bomber of Syria's civil war and kidnapping dozens of UN peacekeepers.
Key allies: The rest of Al Qaeda, and allegedly Turkey.
The conflict in northwestern Yemen's border areas is hard to characterize — as a Washington Institute for Near East Policy backgrounder puts it, the war, which has been fought on and off since 2004, "is between the state and a marginalized minority on the periphery of power who are accustomed to autonomy." That minority is the Shi'ite Houthi, with clans living in the northern desert that boast a large and allegedly Iranian-supported irregular army that has battled Yemen's military to a standstill for nearly a decade.
The stalemate was broken in September, when the Houthis marched on the capital of Sa'ana and took over several ministry buildings before reaching an agreement with the government.
The conflict has killed thousands and displaced another 300,000. The Houthis have also attacked Saudi Arabia and have apparently gained in prominence and popularity throughout Yemen, a chronically unstable country that is also home to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, perhaps the world's most dangerous Al Qaeda affiliate.
The army of Iraqi Kurdistan is one of the most formidable fighting forces in the Middle East, a militia that successfully fought off Saddam Hussein over a decade of conflict and then secured northeastern Iraq as the rest of the country disintegrated.
Today peshmerga forces receive US training and Iranian arms and are on the frontlines of the fight against ISIS. The group has been able to secure the vitally important Mosul Dam and swept into the disputed city of Kirkuk just a few days after ISIS captured Mosul. Armed largely with aging Soviet-produced weaponry, the peshmerga are taking on the character of a conventional military — they are the army of an increasingly autonomous Kurdistan rather than a ragtag ethnic militia.
Key allies: The US, Iran, and — perhaps surprisingly — Turkey.
Noted filmmaker Badal Rahman passed away on June 11, last year. Tomorrow marks his first death anniversary. On the occasion, a documentary, titled “Pathikrit”, on the life of Rahman will be screened tomorrow at TSC, Dhaka University.
Young filmmakers Saiful Islam and Belayet Hossain have jointly directed the documentary.
The screening of the documentary is part of a commemorative programme by Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh (FFSB). Rahman served as its president till his last breath.
The documentary will shed light on different aspects of Rahman's life and works. Movieana Film Society has produced the documentary.
Badal Rahman was a “first” in many aspects of Bangladeshi cinema. He was the first Bangladeshi filmmaker to direct a full-length feature film (“Emil-er Goenda Bahini”) for children. He was also the co-coordinator of the first film appreciation course in Bangladesh.
He was amongst the first Bangladeshis to earn a film-related degree. After returning to Bangladesh, he, along with Syed Salahuddin Zaki, made his first film “Prottashar Shurjo” in 1974.
Rahman was actively involved with the film society movement in Bangladesh from its beginning. He was the convenor of the current movement to form a national film policy. “Self Portrait” and “Shilpir Shilpo” are amongst his other notable films.
Darrel Martin, 27, of Hazelby Road, Creswell: stole four pairs of glasses, to the value of £800, belonging to Vision Express. On separate occasions, stole toiletries to the value of £45 and £63.96, belonging to Asda. Also stole washing up liquid, of a value unknown, belonging to Spar. Community order made with drug rehabilitation requirement. Must also pay £908.96 in compensation and an £85 victim surcharge.
Anthony O’Callaghan, 30, of Sycamore Road, Carlton-in-Lindrick: assaulted a female. Also failed, without reasonable excuse, to surrender to custody at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court. Community order made with rehabilitation activity requirement. Must also pay £200 in court costs, £100 in compensation and an £85 victim surcharge.
Joseph Holt, 21, of no fixed address: assaulted a police officer in the execution of his duty. Stole four jars of coffee, to the value of £20, belonging to Farmfoods. Stole a quantity of meat and a shopping basket, to the value of £101.50, belonging to Asda. Failed without reasonable excuse to surrender to custody at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court. Jailed for two weeks - offence so serious due to record of offending. Must also pay £65 in compensation.
Matthew Feeney, 29, of Straight Mile, Retford: assaulted a prison officer while in custody at HMP Ranby. Ordered to pay compensation of £150.
More Minnesota workers are considering financial incentives to participate in wellness programs that monitor their health, but those programs come at the sacrifice of some privacy.
It’s not uncommon for an employer to offer basic incentives, such as a discount for gym membership. But some organizations have begun taking further steps, asking for more specific information that leaves some participants a little uncomfortable, according to a report from Minnesota Public Radio.
For example, the University of Minnesota is offering at least a $300 discount on health insurance premiums next year. However, to qualify employees have to participate in activities such as a health-risk questionnaire, health coaching and a biometric screening to measure blood pressure and cholesterol.
Sam Wilson had four hits and three runs scored.
Sam Wilson had four hits and three runs scored in the Licking County Settlers’ 9-4 loss to the host Richmond Jazz on Thursday night.
Miguel Pimentel added three hits for the Settlers (1-4), who led 4-2 before the Jazz scored seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
PHOENIX -- Expedia Media Solutions Director Jason Rubenstein’s presentation at the MediaPost Content Marketing Insider Summit on Friday moved many in the audience to tears.
That’s okay, it was by design.
Rubenstein showed several long-form videos, including a story of a friendship formed in the oncology unit of a hospital. Maggie, the survivor of the pair, went on to speak at a St. Jude event about how the organization helped her young friend.
“The ‘Find Yours’ campaign has really helped to change the conversation, not just between us and our customers, but between us and our suppliers.” said Rubenstein.
The multiplatform campaign focuses on the emotional experiences people can find when traveling. Through this approach, Expedia was able to become more than just a booking engine.
In another presentation at the conference, Columbia Sportswear’s Scott Trepanier gave a behind the scenes look at how the company targets, distributes and optimizes their branded content at scale for maximum reach and consumer engagement.
The company’s headquarters is located in Portand, Oregon (home of the naked bike ride) which is quirky and has influenced the brand’s marketing approach, says Trepanier, senior manager of PR, promotions and social media.
To provide real ROI, content marketing needs to be scalable. New technology is helping brands to deliver on the dream of "right content, right person, right time, right place."
The company created 80 “how-to” videos in 30 days and used longtail distribution (YouTube SEO).
The final day of the event included presentations from executives who riveted the audience with insider tales from Taco Bell, Whirlpool and Nissan.
The former digital marketing and social media lead was instrumental in initiatives including unfollowing all of the Taco Bell Twitter followers except for a few dozen who were truly brand ambassadors. Although the brand initially lost about 10% of followers, it quickly prompted many more Twitter followers than what they initially lost.
He also initiated the stunt in which all of the brand’s social media sites went dark, and when they were “turned back on” they prompted followers to download the brand’s new app, with the hashtag #onlyintheapp. The promotion resulted in over a million downloads of the app in its first month.
Jon Hall, senior brand manager at Whirlpool, prompted a reprise of eye dabbing at the conference after showing a touching long-form video the brand did with the “Every day, care” theme. The Whirlpool “Every Day, Care” Project: Perceptions of Care video shows how the members of the “sandwich” generation are caring for both their kids and parents at the same time and how they appreciate it but don’t always voice it.
Before Whirlpool, Hall served in the armed forces in Iraq. There was a poor relationship between the coalition forces and local populace. Hall saw it as a marketing opportunity and he created an effort that helped improve the coalition’s brand image via face-to-face efforts, a radio show, a bi-monthly newspaper, billboards and other efforts. The effort was eventually rolled out to the entire country.
Finally, Jeannie Whited, senior manager-executive communications & Media Center operations at Nissan Motor Co., told Content Marketing Insider Summit attendees the behind-the-scenes story of the making of the “truckumentary” to help launch Nissan’s new Titan truck this fall.
The 15-part documentary season is currently up to part five, which focuses on cold weather and durability. She said initial results are promising both in terms of Nissan’s internal buzz, as well viewing metrics.
Cardi B has the most nominations.
MTV announced the nominees for the 2018 Video Music Awards Monday.
Cardi B received the most nominations with 10 and was followed by Jay Z and Beyoncé's collaboration The Carters with eight. The categories this year are all gender-neutral.