Al Qaeda

• Reuters: Analysis - Egyptian crackdown hands al Qaeda new lease of life (Myra MacDonald, August 19)
• "With images of dying Islamist protesters in media across the globe, the unrest in Egypt plays into al Qaeda's narrative of victimisation, giving it an ideal opportunity to expand a strategy of exploiting instability it has already used in Libya, Syria and Iraq."
  

Egypt

• Reuters: Exclusive - West warned Egypt's Sisi to the end: don't do it (Paul Taylor, August 14)

• "Western allies warned Egypt's military leaders right up to the last minute against using force to crush protest sit-ins by supporters of the ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, arguing they could ill afford the political and economic damage."
  
• Washington Post: Egypt’s identity crisis (Shibley Telhamim, August 16)
• "Much of Egypt’s crisis comes down to a battle over identity. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood overestimated the extent to which Egyptians identify with Islam. And now, with their violent repression of the Brotherhood, the generals who ousted Morsi risk underestimating it."
  
• The Guardian: Resentment towards Brotherhood fuels crackdown support (Ian Black & Patrick Kingsley, August 16)
• "Government statements and popular prejudice against the Brotherhood are fuelling a defiant nationalist narrative that translates into the backing of millions for General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who deposed President Mohamed Morsi."
  
• The Observer: Furious Egyptians vent anger against western 'conspiracies' (Ian Black, August 18)

• "Egypt's violence is fuelling a furious backlash against the US, Britain and other western countries for supposedly supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in its bloody confrontation with the military-backed government that overthrew Mohamed Morsi."
  

Iraq

• Today's Zaman: Kurdish oil flowing to Turkey to boost KRG's autonomy (Ozgur Kucuk, August 18)
• "Once operational, the strategic pipeline is expected to strengthen the Kurdish position vis-à-vis the federal government in Baghdad and will give the Kurds, who have long faced discrimination in the region, more independence in their relations with the Iraqi government."
  

Israel

• The Wall Street Journal: Israel stirs hope, ire before peace talks (Charles Levinson, August 14)
• "Israel gave final approval for the construction of about 900 new housing units in contested East Jerusalem on Tuesday, inflaming Palestinian frustrations with new settlements on the eve of the resumption of talks, and overshadowing the release of 26 long-held Palestinian prisoners meant as a goodwill gesture."
  

Lebanon

• Today's Zaman: Iran aims to deal blow to Turkey's influence in Lebanon (Sinem Cengiz, August 18)
• "Iran, whose relations with Ankara have been strained due to the Syrian crisis, aims to punish Turkey by dealing a blow to Turkish soft power in Lebanon, as Ankara has suspended its cultural and commercial activities in Beirut after a Turkish Airlines (THY) captain and co-pilot were kidnapped by gunmen last week."
  
• Foreign Affairs: Hezbollah Under Fire (Bilal Y. Saab, August 16)
• "The importance of the blast that rocked Beirut’s southern Shia-dominated suburbs on August 15, killing around 20 people and wounding hundreds more, should not be diminished. It could spell the beginning of the end for Hezbollah, the dominant political-military actor in Lebanon and one of the United States’ most powerful nemeses in the region. "
  

Syria

• Washington Post: As Islamist rebels rise in Syria, liberal activists take a step back (Sam Tarling, August 17)
• "Like many youth activists who took to the streets to demand President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in the spring of 2011, Ghaibeh, who is 28, says he feels as though the revolution has been hijacked, with al-Qaeda-linked foreign fighters playing an increasingly prominent role in challenging government forces."