UNIPATH STAFF In a meeting between His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of Jordan and Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, the two countries vowed to become stronger security partners. Gen. Bajwa’s official three-day visit to Amman in October 2018 resulted in a promise to hold more joint military exercises, increase training and partner in the production of armaments. Jordan’s king awarded the Order of the Military Merit to Gen. Bajwa for his efforts to improve defense and security relations between the countries. Pakistani dignitaries also attended a counterterrorism drill by the King Abdullah II…
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UNIPATH STAFF Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Defense hosted an international sniper competition in August 2018 attended by dozens of the world’s best military marksmen. Called Altyn Uki (Golden Owl) 2018, the five-day competition attracted snipers from countries such as Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The United States and the United Arab Emirates sent observers. The eighth annual competition was held at the Spassk Training Center in the Karaganda region, a lightly populated area of vast steppes, providing ideal terrain for unobstructed sniping. The 2018 competition was the largest ever and attracted some countries for the first time. It included shooting…
Terrorist organizations thrive in a fragile environment plagued by societal neglect and poor services. Populations lose trust in government and become susceptible to extremist ideology, which promises to rectify injustice and reduce their suffering. Extremists work to promote discontent against the state, stir up ethnic and sectarian strife and highlight injustice and marginalization. This makes it easier to recruit youths to join terrorist movements. Jordan was one of the first countries to join the fight against extremism. His Majesty King Abdullah II first publicized the Amman Message in 2005, which affirmed the fundamental values of Islam: mercy, mutual respect, tolerance,…
The Jordan Armed Forces has developed a cutting-edge counterextremism curriculum UNIPATH STAFF Three indispensable factors are necessary to defeat terrorism: a professional army skilled in fighting, an accurate intelligence apparatus, and experts who can diagnose the extremist thinking that feeds terrorism. The strongest armies in the world cannot defeat terrorism with just battle tanks and aircraft, because terrorism will rise again wherever it finds another security gap. However, when terrorist forces are destroyed, sleeper cells and financiers are traced by intelligence agencies and religious men denounce the lies of terrorists and prevent society from falling into the trap of extremist…
Tehran pushes its radical political and ideological agenda in the Middle East MAJ. GEN. MOHAMMED ZAYED MAHMOUD IBRAHIM. YEMEN’S MILITARY ATTACHÉ IN WASHINGTON, D.C. Iran, formerly known as Persia, today is called the Islamic Republic of Iran, with Tehran as its capital. Its system of government is based on the supreme leader, considered to be the highest authority in the state and the decision-maker. The nation has adopted the “Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist,” a modern political theory that allows clerics to govern in Iran. The Iranian constitution, issued in 1979, gives the supreme leader broad powers, with the most important…
An analysis of Daesh’s exploitation of social media to spread its malign message DR. MARLEEN HORMIZ, Isra’ University College Daesh has transformed Twitter into its electronic province. It orders its followers and supporters to post on the site to bolster the organization, recruit new members and collect donations. The organization set up a “bank of accounts” on Twitter to hand out new accounts to supporters whose accounts are shut down to ensure that they can quickly get back to posting on Twitter. It ordered its supporters to use hashtags in their tweets, which they did intensively, and the organization’s psychological…
Middle Eastern Marines gather at the Regional Marine Symposium in Abu Dhabi UNIPATH STAFF The Middle East offers no shortage of arenas in which regional marine forces are necessary. These specialized troops — traditionally adept at operations on both land and sea — have played a critical role in protecting strategic waterways stretching from the Arabian Gulf to the Red Sea to the Suez Canal. Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping near Yemen, instability in Syria, drug and weapons smuggling, Somali-based piracy: All require regional marine forces committed to a high state of readiness. With those common security challenges in…
Oman’s Arab Regional Cybersecurity Centre is a leader in protecting computer networks UNIPATH STAFF In the borderless realm of the internet, a cyber breach in one country can cause a cascading wave of damage across the world. Countries are working together to share tools, resources and best practices to protect networks and critical infrastructure and to ensure resilience if such a breach occurs. To address the serious cyber threat, the Sultanate of Oman operates a regional center focused on enhancing regional cooperation, coordination and collaboration. The first of its kind, the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Arab Regional Cybersecurity Centre is hosted by…
Combating terrorists online requires a focus on technology, education and economic development SALTANAT BERDIKEEVA Thousands of foreign fighters from around the globe were drawn to conflict zones in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Stories from places like France, Great Britain and Germany describe men and women flocking to support Daesh and other terrorist groups and posing a security threat to Europe once they returned home. The nations of Central Asia — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — are not immune to the problem. Involvement in extremist and terrorist activity is a crime in Central Asian countries and punishable with imprisonment.…
The Jordan Armed Forces Directorate of Moral Guidance combats terrorist messaging UNIPATH STAFF It was no secret that terrorist groups were active on certain isolated webpages, but Daesh’s invasion of social media sites in 2014 and the emergence of terrorist media and an electronic army on Twitter surprised the world’s security apparatuses. Daesh propagandists invaded social media sites in an unprecedented campaign, posting thousands of messages and images that were copied by other Daesh-affiliated accounts to ensure they would reach the largest possible number of followers. Daesh waged a media campaign and a vast psychological war on Facebook and Twitter,…