Despite the speed and success of ISIS's recent advance, its reliance on the support of aggrieved Sunni groups means it is unlikely to make significant inroads into Southern Iraq over the coming weeks. Showcase attacks targeting Shi'a religious sites remain more likely in the short term, writes Noemi Casati.
A full-scale election audit has restarted and, while further disruptions are likely, indications are that a new Afghan president will be appointed by the autumn. A clear mandate to govern is vital to the country's stability but continues to elude both candidates. If the final result is not accepted, the country faces political paralysis, disaffection…
Libya is paralysed by fighting between militia groups, and the new government faces an uphill struggle in preventing a slide into chaos, writes Tom Crooke.
A ‘Yes' vote on Scottish independence would have had damaging consequences for security in both Scotland and the UK. While a further devolution of powers is inevitable, negotiators are wise to leave defence off the table, writes Rachel Hankey.
Upcoming elections will be among the most hotly contested in recent years. Yet, despite the centrality of emotionally charged issues such as social welfare, corruption and economic recession, we are very unlikely to see a resurgence of anti-government protests, writes Zoe Wakefield.
The security vacuum in North Africa's Sahel region has long been a haven for various criminal and Islamist militant networks, whilst other extremist groups are known to operate around Libya and Algeria's coastal regions. The rise of Islamic State threatens to add a transnational dimension to the intent of these groups, writes Tom Crooke.
To curb growing domestic terrorism, the government must stop conflating Mapuche civil unrest with violent anarchist attacks, writes Lloyd Belton.
One month after the ousting of Blaise Compaoré, the former President of Burkina Faso, a power struggle continues to unfold. Other leaders in their final terms will be watching closely, write Adrian Fielding and Toby Thomas.
Tunisia's fledgling government faces a challenging political, security and economic landscape and will need to combine pragmatism and compromise to realise the country's ambitions, writes Albert Arbuthnott.
It is time to look beyond narrowly defined US national security concerns and afford greater attention to the impact of Hezbollah's operations on internal security in Latin America, writes Lloyd Belton.
Recent demonstrations in the town of Ma'an have highlighted the threat of domestic extremism, but Jordan's most effective response to this threat may lie less with the security apparatus, and more with the state's capacity to address socio-economic marginalisation in the country's south, writes Julian Karssen.