The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

Islamist militants turn to less-governed social-media platform :  The Islamic State and other terror groups are flocking to a Berlin-based social-media service that imposes few barriers on the distribution of violent content or recruiting propaganda, according to a new report. Thousands of followers have subscribed to Islamic State-related channels on the social-media platform called Telegram in recent weeks, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington-based organization that tracks online activities of terrorist groups. Founded by a high-profile Russian programmer who fled that country last year, Telegram is designed to protect users’ anonymity.   Unlike Twitter, Facebook and other established platforms, Telegram has no clear mechanism for law enforcement agencies to track individuals or demand that material aimed at inciting terror attacks be taken down. Russia Lays Out Plans for Syria Talks - Video - NYTimes.com Iran’s Role in the...

Obama fumbles for credibility in Syria as Russia and Iran seize initiative | US news | The Guardian Under withering fire from political opponents,  Barack Obama  is once again shuffling his Syria cards, hoping against hope that he can salvage US credibility from the wreckage of his twin failures to defeat Isis terror and topple Bashar al-Assad. Fear is driving Obama’s latest rethink: fear that Russia and Iran are winning the strategic tug-of-war for decisive influence in both  Syria  and Iraq; and fear that his Middle East legacy will be an anarchic arc of muddle and mayhem stretching from Mosul to the Mediterranean...  Obama’s many critics say his visceral fear of the Middle East quagmire has allowed Iran and Russia to run rings around him. Veteran columnist Charles Krauthammer was typically scathing: “Obama’s response to all this? Nothing. He has washed his hands of the region, still the centre of world oil production and trade, and still the world’s...