Middle Orient

The Lebanese Forces have the largest Christian bloc in parliament, but you wouldn’t know that from their policy of splendid isolation. On Sunday, Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, a Hezbollah official, denounced the continued deadlock in Lebanon over electing a new president, but offered (what he considered) a sliver of good news. …

Kurdish-led forces guarding Syria’s Islamic State prisons have been on high alert amid spreading clashes in Deir Ezzor province. Tribal backlash. The Kurdish-led alliance of Syrian militias backed by the US military to fight the Islamic State group is facing a fresh challenge to its authority in the oil-rich eastern …

Turkey tries to dial down confrontations in the eastern Mediterranean before the Greek minister’s visit as part of its push to improve relations with the West. Greek Foreign Minister Yorgo Gerapetritis will travel to Turkey on Tuesday as the historic rivals continue efforts to reset their decadeslong dispute over territorial …

Russia withdrew from the deal two months ago after claiming the West was not keeping its side of the bargain by allowing for greater Russian agricultural exports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to persuade Russia’s Vladimir Putin to return to a critical Black Sea grain deal Monday after meeting …

Abstract: This article explores what is known regarding the Islamic State’s leaders since the killing of the group’s second caliph Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (conventionally dubbed “al-Mawla” for shorthand) in February 2022. In contrast with the group’s first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the organization has publicized little information on his …

In a surprise move earlier this month, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas fired the majority of the governors in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The round of sackings targeted the governors of eight provinces under Palestinian administration. Four governors were also dismissed in the besieged Gaza Strip, where …

In light of Human Rights Watch’s report on the killing of Ethiopian refugees by Saudi Arabian border guards, Anthony Harwood argues that Britain should reconsider its unconditional relations with Riyadh Imagine, if you will, Rishi Sunak setting up gun turrets on the white cliffs of Dover to pop off migrants …

A humanitarian crisis in the long-disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is exposing both the weakness of Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and the failure of the Biden administration to deliver on promises to defend Armenians from the risk of another genocide. Generally ignored by the rest of the world, Nagorno-Karabakh is …

Turkey’s drift into a completely authoritarian system has only been thwarted by the existence of a strong opposition bloc – which now seems to be fragmenting. In competitive authoritarian regimes like Turkey, it is a sine quo non for the opposition to form a united bloc to create a resistance …

En dépit de ses quatre-vingts ans, de ses trébuchements continus et de ses gaffes à répétition, l’État profond a décidé de maintenir la candidature du président américain Joe Biden aux élections présidentielles de 2024. Ce qui amène tout observateur ou analyste politique à se poser la question fondamentale : quelles …