Middle Orient

A reshaping of the Iraqi political scene, despite low turnout As was widely expected, voter turnout in Iraq’s early parliamentary elections, held on Oct. 10, was historically low. Official turnout came in at 41% — out of 22.12 million registered voters — or an even lower 34% when taking into …

Iran’s new conservative government under President Ebrahim Raisi has based its approach to the nuclear talks for the revival of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on three key documents that lay out clear directives: first, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Oct. 21, 2015 letter to then-President Hassan …

Memories of the Lebanese civil war resurfaced this week as images appeared of children hiding in hallways and behind cars while deadly sectarian clashes unfolded outside their schools in Beirut’s Tayouneh neighborhood. Protests organized by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to demand the removal of the judge investigating the August …

The fatal clashes in Beirut on Thursday have reminded many people of the Ain El-Remmaneh incident that sparked fighting between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Phalangists which ultimately led to the 15-year Lebanese Civil War. This week’s incident began with Amal, Hezbollah, and their Christian ally in the North …

In the last few years, the Islamic State has ramped up its operations in West Africa, rapidly fortifying its presence through its regional affiliates: Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). West Africa is particularly vulnerable to extremism and provides fertile ground …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a monumental vision for his country’s largest city: building a new mega canal through Istanbul. Of course, Istanbul is already home to the Bosporus Strait, whose bisection of Europe and Asia has been fought over in numerous wars throughout history and inspired numerous cliches. …

It may not have been planned or coordinated but efforts by Middle Eastern states to dial down tensions serve as an example of what happens when big power interests coincide. It also provides evidence of the potentially positive fallout of a lower US profile in the region. Afghanistan, the United …

In Mosul’s Old City, the rule of the Islamic State group is not a distant memory of horrors long past. On every block are reminders: bombed out houses, piles of rubble and families toiling daily, just to survive. “An IS family lived over there,” says Sahara Mahmoud, a mother of …

Ayse Ozdogan, an imprisoned end-stage cancer patient, has been denied release, despite a recommendation by a government-run hospital. A well-known saying of the Prophet Mohammed intones, “Allah has no mercy for him who has no mercy for his fellows.” It appears to be lost on Turkey’s Islamist Justice and Development …

Israel is hoping that Sudan will soon finalize the normalization process it agreed upon several months ago in the framework of the Abraham Accords. Sudanese Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari met Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll and Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej in Abu Dhabi Oct. 13 in a rare …