Middle Orient

Israel is expanding its control over territory in southern Syria, not merely through military means, but also through the purchase of agricultural lands by individuals of Jewish descent holding multiple nationalities, Al-Akhbar reported on 4 May. According to a local source in the Deraa Governorate of southern Syria, extensive purchases …

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz marks a rupture in the post-1970s energy order, with consequences that may redefine how the global economy functions The US and Israeli-led war on Iran has initiated a chain reaction that has culminated in the most significant oil supply disruption in modern history. …

Discord between Western allies — ostensibly due to contrasting views towards Islam and Israel — has recently escalated to a new height. Its core most likely consists of a deep-seated envy that a handful of scruffy, hunted people managed to transform a land of sand dunes, deserts and malarial swamps …

Despite a fragile cease-fire between the United States and Iran, the global economic crisis sparked by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues unabated. Dueling blockades have kept 20 percent of the global oil supply, 20 percent of the global supply of liquefied natural gas, and critical commodities such …

The United Arab Emirates’ exit from OPEC is not a technocratic adjustment to oil policy; it is a geopolitical signal. Beneath the surface of production quotas and market strategy lies a deeper rupture: the erosion of Gulf unity as a guiding principle of regional order. Accelerated by wartime vulnerability, sharpened …

Leaked meeting minutes show Russia’s deputy defense minister leaning on Syria to pay a $37-million bill for keeping oil flowing. Months after that meeting, the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell to a rebel coalition. Syria’s new government has continued to negotiate with Russia over its total debt of at least …

A brief and poorly explained landing of a U.S. military transport aircraft in Tbilisi at the end of March 2026 has become a subject of discussion and speculation about its real significance, fueling suspicions that more complex geopolitical signals may lie behind the official explanation of a “routine flight.” Let’s …

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The low-sophistication, high-volume approach used in wartime attacks claimed by the front group HAYI has exposed critical vulnerabilities in Western efforts to harden soft targets, curb online recruitment, and protect Jewish communities amid spillover from the Middle East. At the outset of the Iran war, many expected the regime to …

The US-Israel combined force achieved meaningful operational and strategic successes vis-à-vis the Iranian ballistic missile program before the ceasefire. The combined force spent weeks striking a wide range of missile facilities across Iran based on long-standing US air warfare theory and doctrine. This effort disrupted Iran’s missile operations, degraded its …