Israel’s December 26, 2025, recognition of the Republic of Somaliland showed that it will continue to threaten the security architecture of the Arab world, disorganized and penetrated as it is today. Somaliland, a secessionist federated state in Somalia, is not at the heart of the region but occupies a strategic landscape that opens doors for its destabilization. Abutting the Arabian […]

In 2025, the Middle East and North Africa saw Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians and destabilizing military attacks across the wider region, Sudan’s unsalutary political and humanitarian conditions, troubles in Yemen, and grassroots protests in Morocco. In 2026, such confrontations will invariably continue to make the region a focus of strategic competition. Developments in the Middle East and North Africa […]

On July 9, 2025, the Trump administration hosted the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal at a White House summit. The summit aimed to facilitate US access to critical minerals and other natural resources in these nations, to enhance cooperation in combatting US-designated foreign terrorist organizations, and to position the United States to compete with China’s commercial footprint […]

Evangelical Christian support for Israel and its policies has long been one of the bedrock factors behind backing for Israel in the United States. Such support pervaded all sectors of American decision making at the executive and legislative levels and produced seemingly unlimited material, diplomatic, and political assistance to Israel. Recently, however, Evangelical backing of Israel has declined, leading to […]

Two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, dominated the greater Middle East during the days of the Cold War. What happened from the Levant down to Yemen and across North Africa was heavily influenced, if not totally determined, by the clash of interests and the rivalry between these two main international players. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence […]

Since 2019, Lebanon has experienced cumulative economic and institutional breakdown, leaving the state hollowed out, public trust shattered, and large segments of society pushed toward despair and emigration. This breakdown has been accompanied by an erosion of state sovereignty, as Hezbollah’s military dominance and influence within state institutions have shaped national decision-making, constrained government authority, and enabled the consolidation of […]

US-Iraqi ties have witnessed an improvement over the past few months, largely in the energy and defense sectors that are key components of the bilateral relationship. These positive developments, however, are threatened by the undiplomatic and sometimes menacing comments by US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack, who seems to go out of his way to […]

President Trump said that Israel and the “Jewish lobby” have lost influence in the United States. He stated, “If you go back 10, 12, 15 years ago at the most, the strongest lobby in Washington was the...

President Donald Trump envisions a central role for Turkey in Gaza. At the October 2025 Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit, Trump named Turkey as one of four guarantors of the ceasefire, along with Egypt, Qatar, and the United States. In addition, the Trump administration sees Turkey as an important player in Gaza’s reconstruction and stabilization, including by participating in the proposed […]

Lebanon today is facing what is arguably its most dangerous moment, as its leaders and politicians grapple with the choice of continuing hostility with Israel or succumbing to American pressure to strike a peace deal with the Zionist state. Neither decision will quickly bring Lebanon the civic peace, political stability, and economic prosperity that it has sought since the early […]

President Trump announced that he would approve the sale to Saudi Arabia of the most advanced US manned strike fighter aircraft, the F-35.

From the torture carried out during the George W. Bush administration to the surge in drone warfare under President Barack Obama, from President Joe Biden’s unconditional support for Israeli war crimes to President Donald Trump’s mass deportations and extrajudicial maritime killings, senior US decision-makers have almost never been held personally accountable for the human consequences of their policies. After the […]

For more than a year, the al-Saudi Maternity Hospital was the only functioning hospital in al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in western Sudan. The largest medical facility in the city, it had already faced heavy attacks, including an October 2024 bombing that killed 10 hospital employees and destroyed large sections of the building, including its water and power systems. […]

On November 23, 2025, Israel succeeded in assassinating Hezbollah’s chief military commander, Haitham Ali Tabatabai, in its latest violation of the ceasefire negotiated in November 2024. Five people were killed and 25 others injured in the attack, which targeted an apartment building in a residential neighborhood in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Tabatabai is an important figure […]

The fastest route to Washington no longer runs through Tel Aviv, as the saying once went, but through Kiryat Gat, a small industrial city in southern Israel. On October 17, 2025, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) established the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) there as part of President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza. According to CENTCOM, the 200 […]

The spectacular and unforeseen fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 upended Syria’s political order and launched a precarious transition. Ahmed al-Sharaa officially assumed the role of interim president on January 29, 2025, serving as the head of a coalition dominated by members of the now disbanded Islamist militia that he had led, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and a transitional government […]

On November 11, 2025, Iraqis voted in their seventh parliamentary election since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. According to the Iraqi High Electoral Commission, the election saw a turnout of 56 percent, markedly higher than the previous two elections. Although the results have yet to be confirmed by the judiciary, no party has emerged with a […]

From late September to mid-October 2025, Moroccans across the country descended into the streets to once again demand change from their government. Under the banner of a leaderless youth coalition dubbed the Gen Z 212 Movement (after Morocco’s international telephone code), protesters called for improved conditions in hospitals and schools, fair job opportunities, infrastructure that meets social needs, and an […]

On November 17, 2025, following weeks of diplomatic maneuvering, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted to approve Resolution 2803 (2025) in support of the Trump administration’s “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict.” The resolution, drafted and actively pushed by Washington, received 13 votes in favor and none against, with China and Russia abstaining after their repeated attempts to […]

Egyptians are currently casting their ballots in parliamentary elections, the final results of which will not be announced before late December 2025. In two phases of voting held in different regions ...

Mohammed bin Salman’s return to Washington after seven years signals a recalibration of US-Saudi ties, with Riyadh seeking security assurances as well as support for its now AI-driven Vision 2030 agen...