Home

About this site

Welcome! When I created this site, my intention was to focus on fun stuff—the amazing peoples and cultures encountered on my travels in the Islamic World: Iranians, Arabs, Turks, Pakistanis, Afghans, Tajiks, Amazigh (“Berbers”); Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians. I wanted to bring to readers the scintillating cultures, cuisines, archaeology, architecture, and art of the Islamic World.

Alas, events in West Asia (“Middle East”) since 2023 have forced to spend time on political and military affairs, specifically:

Asymmetric Warfare: “Warfare that is between opposing forces that differ greatly in military power and typically involves the use of unconventional weapons and tactics.” Iran’s Sipah (IRGC) emphasize asymmetric warfare. Iran’s defensive “Triad” comprises: missiles (ballistic missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles, and land-attack cruise missiles), UAV/UCAV (“drones”), and Electronic Warfare (EW). I write about the Triad’s strategies, tactics, and technologies.

Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR): “Integrated ISR” is the seamless fusion of ISR across multiple sensors (miscellaneous types of electronic and human “eyes and ears”); platforms (satellites, UAVs, manned aircraft and ships equipped to harvest electronic emissions, and the ground stations that collect and broadcast signals); and domains (space, air, sea, ground, cyber) to develop a comprehensive real-time picture for decision-making.

I have published on: (1) al-Qaiʾda; Pakistani Taliban and Afghan Taliban; al-Hashd al-Shaʿbi (Iraq), Hizballah, and Ansarallah (“Houthis”); (2) on ISR, mostly relating to China’s space-based systems that support Iran; and (3) on intelligence history (Cold War and Global War on Terror).

I hope you enjoy the content.

Sign-up for FREE email updates

You will receive an email when a new article is published online. The email will have the essay’s title, with an excerpt to pique your interest. You can unsubscribe anytime. Thank you.