Middle Orient

Scrambling for a thaw with Washington, Ankara hopes to draw on the success of its military drones — battle-proven against Russian weaponry — to cast itself as a key partner in US efforts to contain Russia in eastern Europe and beyond. Having lost much leverage in its fraught ties with …

Egypt is seeking to expand its participation in the reconstruction of Iraq amid a growing alliance between Baghdad, Amman and Cairo. An Egyptian state company announced May 28 the restoration of four bridges in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The rehabilitation of the bridges was put up for international bidding, …

Even if the two sides eventually normalize ties, Damascus faces an uphill struggle to return to the Arab League. On May 26, Syrian Tourism Minister Mohammed Rami Martini became the first Syrian government official to visit Saudi Arabia since the civil war began in 2011. Martini’s trip fueled speculation about …

Muslim Ra’am under Mansour Abbas made history June 13, becoming the first Arab party ever to be part of the coalition and government. By one vote, with a majority of 60 to 59, Israel’s new government was approved and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett sworn in as the 13th prime minister …

The global clout of OPEC, never one of the world’s most admired institutions, reached a nadir in April when a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia triggered a price war just as global oil demand was collapsing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Three months later, the cartel has re-emerged as …

Ankara sees a recently ratified security cooperation deal between Turkey and the Palestinian Authority as groundwork for a possible maritime boundary agreement between Turkey and Palestine. Experts see such prospects as far-fetched. As the Holy Land emerges from a fresh round of clashes, Turkey has ratified a comprehensive cooperation agreement …

The two leaders’ first meeting as heads of state led to detailed discussions, but there were no breakthroughs. The long-awaited meeting today between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Joe Biden went pretty much as expected, with none of the big issues poisoning ties between the NATO allies …

President Joe Biden will seek to stave off another surge of civilian suffering in the devastating war in Syria when he meets President Vladimir Putin this week, appealing to Putin to drop a threat to close the last aid crossing into that country. Russian forces have helped Syrian President Bashar …

Israel’s fragile new government has shown little interest in addressing the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians, but it may not have a choice. Jewish ultranationalists are already staging provocations aimed at splitting the coalition and bringing about a return to right-wing rule. In doing so, they risk escalating tensions with …

The prosecutor of Jordan’s state security court on Sunday filed sedition and incitement charges against two confidants of King Abdullah II’s half-brother Hamzah, marking the latest step in a rare, intrigue-filled palace drama that has rattled the Western-backed kingdom. The affair erupted into the open in early April when Hamzah …