Middle Orient

Lebanon’s collapse is Hezbollah’s slow unraveling

Hezbollah has been working for years on integrating itself into the Lebanese state. Now that the country is falling apart, Hezbollah’s assimilation into the state apparatus, which was initially meant to protect the organization against international pressure, could pose a direct threat to the group’s future.

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Top PKK terrorist killed in Turkish anti-terror operation in northern Iraq

Senior PKK terrorist Fadil Ekinci in charge of the terrorist group’s activities in Iraq’s Zap region and listed in the blue category of Turkey’s wanted list was killed in an anti-terror operation in coordination with National Intelligence Organization, reports said Wednesday.

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The pandemic will unleash worst recession since Great Depression, says IMF chief

The coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world will turn global economic growth “sharply negative” in 2020, triggering the worst fallout since the 1930s Great Depression, with only a partial recovery seen in 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.

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US engagement in the Black Sea and Middle East. What more can be done?

Since Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014, the United States has spent billions on Black Sea security. Assistance has been insufficient in real terms however, given Russia’s continued aggression and land grabs. US support for the Black Sea and the Middle East has been …

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Iran Continuing Overt and Covert Activities in Iraq

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has consumed the attention of both Iran and the United States, as well as that of Iraq, Iran has continued to try to ensure that it maintains preponderant influence in Iraq. Iran views U.S. forces in Iraq as the spearhead of U.S. influence there, as …

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