During Xi’s decade-long rule, China’s foreign policy has become more assertive and aggressive, and the 20th Party Congress signaled a continuation of this trajectory. The Politburo Standing Committee is now completely made up of Xi loyalists, while those considered closer to former leader Hu Jintao have been ousted from the …

More than one year after national elections and amid a serious rift in the majority Shia community, Iraq’s major factions are forming a full-term government. The new government will be dominated by leaders that, to varying degrees, support close relations with Iran and are skeptical of relations with Washington. Shia …