Middle Orient

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered this January that his country carry out “exponential” expansion of its nuclear arsenal and the manufacturing of a more powerful ICBM. “Today, China, Russia, North Korea and Iran continue to invest in technologies to expand their capabilities to hit the United States with …

Middle Eastern violence has come to be associated with the area, which is rich in history and cultural variety. The area is gripped by an ongoing sequence of violence and political instability that seems to never stop, ranging from the current civil conflicts in Syria and Yemen to the long-running …

Turkey is a country that straddles two continents, Europe and Asia, and has a pivotal role in regional and international affairs. It is also a country that faces many challenges, both internally and externally, that shape its destiny and identity. In May 2023, Turkey held its presidential election, which resulted …

Lebanon has had no president since the departure from office of Michel Aoun in October last year, and the jockeying for position continues. Hezbollah and the Amal movement were banking on Christian division to push their candidate, Sulaiman Franjieh, but the Christian blocs surprised them by supporting the candidacy of …

The war in Syria has dropped out of the news, like almost everything else, in a time when the Ukraine war seems to dominate all discourse and reporting. But the regime of Bashar al-Assad continues to strangle its own country. Even last year the Russians continued to bomb on his …

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has secured another term as the President of Turkey, after the most closely fought presidential election in the last 20 years. His victory does not have only ramifications for domestic politics, but has serious implications for international politics. One critical aspect is related to NATO’s recent expansion …

Intense political discussion and speculation have followed the recent agreement between Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which China brokered. While some are in favour of the implementation of the agreement, others remain sceptical. From a geopolitical standpoint, it is imperative to address the ongoing concerns surrounding Iran’s …

Erdoğan, as he has always done since coming to power in 2002, did all that he could to use state resources and the media he controls to manipulate the voters both before the May 14 vote and before the second round. State officials who are bound by the constitution to …

Selahattin Demirtas’ announcement comes amid heated public debate over whether Kemal Kilicdaroglu would resign after he was defeated by President Erdogan in Sunday’s runoff. The ongoing public debate in Turkey over whether the country’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu would resign the Republican People’s Party leadership after his presidential election …

The key question following the vote is whether the alliance between the HDP and the main opposition Republican People’s Party and its Table of Six partners can endure. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s electoral victory is roiling the country’s Kurdish movement, with its most popular leader declaring from jail that …