Despite new electoral system and process, elections may deliver far more modest outcomes than the people demand and need. On October 10, Iraq will hold national parliamentary elections, the fifth national elections since Iraq adopted its 2005 constitution. And despite waning expectations about what these elections might accomplish, they remain …

There is an unmistakable shift in American politics regarding Palestine and Israel, a change that is inspired by the way in which many Americans, especially the youth, view the Palestinian struggle and the Israeli occupation. While this shift is yet to translate into tangibly diminishing Israel’s stronghold over the US …

PJSC LUKOIL announced Thursday the conclusion of an agreement on acquiring 15.5% interest in the Shah Deniz natural gas project in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea from PETRONAS. The value of the transaction will amount to $2.25 billion, and the completion is subject to fulfilment of conditions precedent, …

In chapter 21 of St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus proposes a moral dilemma in the form of a parable: A man asks his two sons to go to work for him in his vineyard. The first son declines, but later ends up going. The second son tells his father he will …

Iraqi parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 10, 2021. The elections were moved forward from May 2022, following a popular protest that erupted in 2019, which led to the resignation of the government of Adel Abdul-Mahdi. In these elections, for the first time, a “rights movement” party will run for …

One year ago, Europe’s largest camp for displaced people—Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos—was destroyed by several fires that erupted across September 8 and 9, 2020. This tragic event, which left some 12,000 people stranded with no safe place to stay, starkly illustrated the complete failure of the …

In the context of skyrocketing gas prices and calls for Russia to supply more gas to the EU, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to exclude Ukraine as a transit country for such additional supplies. However, he said Russia would fully comply with its present contractual obligations for the transit of …

On the banks of a mountain river outside Tajikistan’s capital, in a resort area teeming with hotels and dachas, stands a modern, two-story building flanked by towering trees and lattice fence panels. The state-owned sanatorium near Dushanbe is usually reserved for high-ranking Tajik officials who flock there on weekends or …

At least 100 worshippers have been killed or injured after a suicide bomber targeted a Shia mosque, in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, according to news reports, during Friday prayers. The UN chief condemned the “horrific” attack “in the strongest terms”, noting that it represents the third assault on …

Where the US goes, much of the Western world follows – willingly or reluctantly, depending on circumstances. From the first days of his presidency Joe Biden started implying that the Middle East did not feature among his top concerns. As a consequence the region has been sinking down the policy …