Middle Orient

Kingdom of Change: Saudi Arabia’s Evolving Foreign Policy

What lies behind Riyadh’s recent spate of diplomatic initiatives – and how likely are they to succeed? Over the past few months, Saudi Arabia has attracted international attention with one diplomatic initiative after another – from its beginning of normalisation with Iran, to peace talks with the Yemeni Houthis, to …

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An uncertain future for Idlib as Assad is welcomed back to the international stage

Despite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad being welcomed back onto the international stage, all is not well at home. His country is broken into three parts, which, at best, are in a state of uneasy coexistence and at worst are stuck in a low-intensity active conflict. In the country’s northwestern Idlib …

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Blinken calls Turkey’s FM Hakan Fidan, Sweden’s NATO bid tops agenda

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkey’s new Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also touched upon bilateral relations and defense cooperation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Turkey’s new Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Thursday to congratulate him on his appointment, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. State Department …

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Deciphering Turkey’s new Cabinet: Real reform or window dressing?

President Erdogan’s new Cabinet so far reflects a shift to his reformist days — whether that plays out as such remains to be seen. Turkey’s flailing economy topped the agenda as the country’s new Cabinet convened Tuesday under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the first time since he won a …

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IntelBrief: Iran and the Taliban Clash

A recent border clash between Iranian and Taliban forces marked the latest phase of a longstanding water rights dispute between the two countries. The fighting might upend Tehran’s relationship with Taliban leaders, which is already burdened by the Taliban’s brutal treatment of Shia Muslims and some Persian-speaking Afghan groups. Both …

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Reports say Turkish shelling in north Syria kills a Russian soldier, wounds others

Turkish shelling in northern Syria early Monday hit a vehicle killing one Russian soldier and wounding several others, Syrian Kurdish media and an opposition war monitor reported. Monday’s shelling came after a day of violence between U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters and Turkish troops in northern Syria left several dead on the …

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Iran unveils first hypersonic missile ‘Fattah,’ says no system can intercept it

Boastfully adding to its already massive stockpile of long-range projectiles, Tehran appeared headed for a fresh collision course with Israel and its Western adversaries, which remain unnerved by Iran’s missile program. Iran unveiled on Tuesday what it described as its first domestically developed hypersonic missile, pressing ahead with the controversial …

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US Losing Pretexts For Occupying Eastern Syria – OpEd

When the US led an international coalition in mid-2014 to bomb Daesh targets in Syria and Iraq, the terrorist organization had already occupied large swathes of territory spanning the two Arab countries and had the means to send its fighters all the way to Baghdad. A dozen nations carried out …

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Iran’s Growing Rift Between Theocrats and Security Elites

In the aftermath of nationwide protests, tensions are rising among the Iranian establishment. One consequence of the nationwide protests in Iran sparked by the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022 has been the widely celebrated retreat of the morality police responsible for enforcing Iran’s mandatory …

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How Israel Can Solve Its Gaza Problem – Analysis

Israel has in recent years been living with a dangerous phenomenon, to which it has wrongly become accustomed, without any real debate as to its advisability. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are Palestinian terror organizations committed to annihilating Israel, controlling Gaza, and threatening to launch attacks at times of …

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