This month marks 12 years since a popular uprising in Syria erupted as part of the wave of Arab uprisings known as the Arab Spring and soon turned into an all-out civil war. Since then, over 300,000 civilians have been killed and millions of people displaced. The past year of …

Quiet mediation efforts between Egypt and Iran have been going on for months, seeking to end one of the Middle East’s longest-running but often-neglected feuds. In May, credible media reports indicated that Egyptian-Iranian talks had been taking place in Baghdad since March. Later that month, Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq …

It’s been almost a year since Elias—whose name has been changed to protect his identity—officially became a deserter from the Lebanese armed forces. As a specialized technician with over a decade in the army, he had been making the equivalent of $1,300 month. But then Lebanon’s economic crisis hit in …