Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, is in danger of becoming a “second Aleppo” amid a surge in Russian airstrikes, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov warned this week. In an April 17 interview with The Guardian, Terekhov said that unless Ukraine urgently receives additional air defenses from the country’s partners, Kharkiv would suffer …

Latest Developments Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on April 17 that he plans to meet Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Turkey over the coming weekend, calling Haniyeh the “leader of the Palestinian cause.” In a speech to lawmakers, Erdogan said, “Even if only I, Tayyip Erdogan, remain, I will …

Iran’s April 13 attack on Israel was a watershed moment in the countries’ history. The attack involved the first-ever direct strikes launched from Iranian territory onto Israeli soil, with an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles fired in a single military operation by Iran. The decision to retaliate directly against Israel’s …

Zelensky and Yermak find themselves tied to one another and somewhat interdependent: the former on the staffing policy of his head of administration, the latter on the political survival of his patron. President Volodymyr Zelensky is continuing his large-scale purge of the Ukrainian leadership in an attempt to achieve greater …

Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, will travel to Turkey at the weekend to hold talks with President Tayyip Erdogan, while Ankara’s top diplomat met the Hamas leader during a visit to Doha on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Turkey, a NATO member, has denounced Israel’s offensive in Gaza …

And How America Can Prepare for Whatever Comes Next Vladimir Putin happened to turn 71 last October 7, the day Hamas assaulted Israel. The Russian president took the rampage as a birthday present; it shifted the context around his aggression in Ukraine. Perhaps to show his appreciation, he had his …

Threaten Tehran, Pressure Netanyahu In the immediate aftermath of Tehran’s spectacular, but almost entirely thwarted, attack on Israel, it appeared that the Middle East had dodged a bullet. Iran’s barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles enables its leadership to claim vengeance for Israel’s April 1 assassination of seven …

Despite its devastating human and physical cost, Israel’s effort to destroy Hamas has a whack-a-mole aspect. Even though Israel asserts it has killed 12,000 of Hama’s estimated 40,000 fighters and wounded or captured thousands more, Hamas retains a presence in swaths of Gaza. It has been able to re-establish itself, …

Iraq, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a hotbed of gallows humor. But the tired old joke: “Iran and the West will keep fighting here until every Iraqi is dead,” is no funnier now than it was years ago. Hundreds of missiles and drones soared over the Middle East this weekend from Iran …