A few weeks ago, rare earth elements, critical minerals, and other natural resources seemed like just one more factor in efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Now they are front and center, a dominant focus of U.S. talks with Kyiv and a prominent vein of the intensifying diplomacy that …

Despite a Sunni majority in Syria, the Assad regime has managed to maintain its dominance through a combination of autocratic and kleptocratic rule, using patronage to secure loyalty. On 8 December 2024, following a 10-day uprising, Bashar al-Assad, son of Hafez al-Assad, was brought down along with the entire Assad …

In his sudden haste to see Ukraine repay the US for the billions of dollars appropriated by Congress to the country in its war against Russian aggression, Donald Trump, aka “Mr. Art of the Deal,” has deployed his tactless “Trumplomacy” with its attendant extortive strongarm tactics to gain access to …