Since October 2023, the Israeli offensive against Gaza has elicited various responses from governments and the public worldwide. One notable response came from Ansar Allah al-Houthis in Yemen, which targeted the Israeli territory and Israeli-linked commercial vessels transiting through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. This study examines the Houthis intervention in the Gaza War as a case study of rebel governance and the legitimation process during the conflict. It argues that the Houthis military intervention represents a leap in the group’s strategy to legitimize its authority over Yemen and gain local, regional, and international recognition. This analysis highlights the multifaceted processes of rebel governance and how non-state actors seek legitimacy in conflict-affected regions.

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Since the 1990s, NGO regulations in Syria have been relaxed, leading to increased activity, particularly in the 2000s. However, many NGOs were founded by government officials or individuals closely associated with the regime, thus rendering the relationship between NGOs and the government a primary area of interest. Consequently, several Syrian NGOs are regarded as government-organized NGOs (GONGOs) and are perceived as financially supporting the government while lacking autonomy, especially since the 2011 conflict. These roles in the economic and social spheres remain underexplored. This study examines the political nature of NGO activities during the conflict, focusing on the economic and social roles of the Syrian Trust for Development from 2014–2016, which was a period of intense conflict. The study employs analytical approaches that include analyzing the trend of NGO’s activities from a geographical and sectoral perspective and discussing their characteristics through a comparison with the definition and functional classification of NGOs. This study reviews previous NGO research, the legal environment in Syria, and conducts a case analysis of the Syria Trust for Development. The conclusion indicates that the NGOs have contributed to economic and social reconstruction while supporting the governance system by alleviating public discontent and co-opting civilians.

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The political use of force refers to the actions of political leaders who resort to military means with the intention of protecting their political lives and reputations. This is a high-risk choice that may not gain the intended support because it risks the lives of soldiers. Therefore, even in the case of military policy, leaders avoid risk by adopting defensive rather than aggressive measures. In this case, the question is whether defensive rather than offensive measures exert the same rally effect that leaders hope for and whether they avert a crisis in a leader’s political life. To answer this question, we conducted a survey experiment in Israel. The results revealed that in terms of support gained, defensive measures, such as the separation wall and strengthening of the Iron Dome, did not differ from the expression of regret. Therefore, it is believed that Israel prefers offensive measures, even in wars wherein leaders in danger of being reelected appeal to military force.

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The purpose of this study is to explore the intellectual basis and features of the Japanese understanding of Islam during the Meiji period, as identified in previous studies, by examining the reference materials in the major biographies of Muhammad and his commentaries. As a result of the study, it became clear that there are two types of originality of the Japanese authors regarding Muhammad and Islam during the Meiji period. The first is that the originality of each author was based on a selection of specific elements and sections of existing material in his work. The writings on Muhammad and Islam during the Meiji period were essentially compiled from translations and abridgments of Western material. One could argue that the quality of a work depends on the extent of the material it refers to. Second, Japanese authors also showed originality in their critique of the medieval Christian perspective on Muhammad, while also using Western texts similar to Thomas Carlyle. In conclusion, the unique understanding of Muhammad and Islam that emerged in Japan during the Meiji period was, in a sense, Western material reconstructed by Japanese biographers from different perspectives born in the West.

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This study clarifies how and why Islamist organizations’ activities develop globally, using Hizb ut-Tahrir as a case study. Initially, Hizb ut-Tahrir was formed in the context of the Middle East, but today, it operates globally, with chapters in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, and Africa. The Hizb ut-Tahrir’s character can be classified into the following three phases based on its transitional development: (1) Shami organization, (2) Arab organization, and (3) global organization. (1) Hizb ut-Tahrir—as a Shami organization—refers to the period from its founding to approximately 1964. It was established in Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, it expanded its activities to Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. (2) Hizb ut-Tahrir—as an Arab organization—encompasses the period from about 1964 to the 1970s, during which, it expanded to Arab countries, where it made multiple attempts at coups. (3) Hizb ut-Tahrir’s global development occurred primarily after the 1980s. It has expanded to Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Western countries. In conclusion, to understand Hizb ut-Tahrir, analyzing Hizb ut-Tahrir’s dynamics as a “global organization” as a whole—rather than dividing it by “regions”—is necessary.

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