Middle East & Africa

Although it’s the military’s largest presence in the Sahel, the loss is more symbolic than substantive.

Some politicians have called student protesters a threat. Instead, they are providing us all with an education in democracy.

Newly arrived Indian workers say abuse is common.

Washington’s shortsighted policies enabled Tehran and its proxies to destabilize the region.

Frustrated by Israel’s negotiating position, Doha is threatening to walk away.

As vote-buying corrupts the country’s politics, the West African nation could learn from Taipei’s effective crackdown on the practice.

Lawmakers are calling for direct measures against the group’s leader, Hemeti.

New measures to punish Iran, Venezuela, and Russia could raise crude prices and hurt Biden in an election year.

Israel-Iran tensions should not distract us from the suffering of Palestinians.

As long as the two countries remain engaged in conflict, they will trade blows—no matter what their allies counsel.

What new cities in Saudi Arabia and Egypt tell us about their autocrats.

How to think about an escalating conflict in the Middle East.

U.S. allies intercepted hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles, and then Israeli forces counterattacked in a limited strike—but the threat of regional war remains.

Washington wants Beijing to rein in Tehran, but experts say it’s not that simple.

Experts say the attack was designed to showcase Israel’s capabilities without further provoking Tehran.

Arabs across the region are angry, but regimes can’t afford to sever ties.

Whether Tehran weaponizes its program remains tied to threat perceptions by political leadership.

With last weekend's attack, Tehran has undertaken a strategic shift in the region.

It’s been at war for six months—and now faces another front with Iran.

The Bretton Woods institutions are due a revamp from their colonial roots.

Last weekend’s security cooperation in the Middle East doesn’t indicate a new future for the region.

Israel has launched a diplomatic offensive to further isolate Iran after its attack.

The U.S. president can’t stop Israel from retaliating against Iran, but he can choose whether to help Israel manage the consequences.

A year into the conflict, fatalistic rhetoric continues to limit the world’s attention—and actions—toward Sudan.

Junta leaders and demonstrators seek to replace U.S. presence in the country.

The two countries have a long history of online offensives against each other, which may come into play as Israel mulls retaliation for Iran's attack.

Iran’s attack on Israel has undermined some of China’s diplomatic credibility in the region.

Calls to curb U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza over the humanitarian crisis risk being upended by Israel’s pressing security needs.

Israeli leaders have vowed to counterattack, but how they do so could jeopardize international support.

Israel is in growing danger—but the responsibility lies more in Washington than in Tehran.

An isolated leader who faced widespread criticism a week ago now has the backing of the West and has deflected global attention from Gaza.

And why that could change.

Past U.S. presidents rejected Israel’s push to strike Tehran, but Biden is falling into his trap.

Instead of trying to put out security fires, U.S. policy should focus on governance and growth.

The answer could determine whether the region is heading for all-out war.

The strikes mark perhaps the most dangerous moment in the Middle East in recent years.

Will Palestinians ever recover from the famine and destruction?

Donald Trump’s threats to cut all spending can spur actual changes.

Terrorism is a tactic, and fighting it requires a concerted strategy.

The country’s president has delayed elections indefinitely, but the political opposition is prepared for a fight.

Six months in, there’s still no plan for after the war, U.S. officials say.

An execution, a prosecution, and then a backlash.

Over 30 years, the event became synonymous with the moral failures of a state-bound foreign-policy order.

In their 100th column, Matt and Emma revisit clashes over Taiwan, Ukraine, Iran—and how to deter an alien invasion.

Even on their own terms, Israel’s plans don’t add up.

Last weekend’s elections offer a first glimpse of a political future beyond the reigning strongman.

A joint international task force could quickly mobilize an emergency system to clear shipments through the Rafah border crossing.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s agenda has spooked some investors, but power could temper his more radical proposals.

Despite blaming the prime minister, a large majority of Jewish Israeli citizens support his destructive policies in Gaza and beyond.

Growing Russian, Chinese, and Iranian influence in the Sahel is testing Washington’s clout in an increasingly strategic continent.

Countries have used the body’s impasse over conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine to advance their own interests.

An airstrike in Damascus kills a top Iranian IRGC commander.

Washington prepares for a worst-case scenario of attacks on critical infrastructure.

The last major war in the Great Lakes region killed more than 5 million people. Only pressure from Washington can stop conflict from erupting again.

The agency, which goes to great lengths to remain neutral, is Palestinians’ only hope.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush outraged Israeli leaders by conditioning aid and placing U.S. interests first.

American abstention on a U.N. vote this week caused a major public spat between the two partners.

The United States has intervened in past Mideast wars, but this one is different.

The group is exploiting sympathy for Palestine to spread its propaganda.

U.S., U.K., and France disagree on compensation for victims at an IFC-funded chain of for-profit schools.

After the shock of the Islamic State attack in Moscow, a top expert warns that “the bench is thin” when it comes to counterterrorism analysis.

Washington now has to treat Tehran as a de facto nuclear power.

Civil society loses—and China and Russia fill the vacuum.

The U.S.-led resolution signals a subtle shift in the Biden administration’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

From Russia to Yemen, gas and oil exports have become prime targets.

In the Middle East, nothing is ever simple—including the provision of humanitarian aid.

In the wake of Oct. 7, lax gun laws have empowered militias—and the far right.

The special relationship does not benefit Washington and is endangering U.S. interests across the globe.

As the clean energy transition takes off, the region’s biggest players are making sure they have a seat at the table.

Iran’s aging supreme leader is ensuring that any successor will stay the course.

After a month of chaos, the country is going to the polls with formerly imprisoned opposition candidates on the ballot.

A surge in spoofing from the Middle East to northern Europe is throwing onboard navigation systems off course.

Former diplomat Richard Haass on the Middle East after Oct. 7

The green movement must speak out about pollution from Red Sea maritime terrorism, which will devastate livelihoods and the oceans.

The West African nation has long enjoyed a special relationship with Washington—but proposed anti-gay legislation could imperil its economy.

The country risks becoming an “open-air jail,” Haiti’s former foreign minister warns.

Journalist Mina Al-Oraibi on how the Arab world perceives White House policy on Israel, Hamas, and the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

A pragmatic, peaceful approach is the only way to a real state.

Istanbul’s mayor is struggling to get reelected as the opposition’s hard-line nationalism pushes Kurdish voters away.

If Erdogan’s party wins back the country’s biggest cities, big shifts in Turkish politics could follow.

More than a century after the Herero-Nama genocide, Namibian communities are seeking compensation, land redistribution, and a seat at the table.

The Patriarchate of Moscow is trying to steal Orthodox believers to weaken Ukraine.

Chaos and turmoil will endure long after a cease-fire.

Two senators on why the United States remains an essential partner in both Ukraine and the Middle East.

Pro-Israel misinformation aimed at dismissing and discrediting Palestinian narratives is the fruit of a decade-long effort.

As the international community turns to other crises, people fleeing Sudan’s war face dire economic conditions.

The war in Gaza has rekindled the debate in Israel over who serves—and who doesn’t.

Why the Middle East conflict has been getting increasingly brutal—and increasingly hard to solve.

In last week’s parliamentary election, the Iranian political spectrum shifted to include a new group of outsiders.

The U.S. African Development Foundation says it is cooperating “fully” with investigations.

Simmering grievances and escalating clashes in the region threaten to trigger another humanitarian disaster.

An investment in Nigeria’s Mavin label—coupled with interest from China and South Korea— highlights the increasing allure of Africa’s cultural exports.

The administration’s policy is too much talk and too little action.

A country renowned for stability and peaceful transitions has been plunged into uncertainty.

Beijing doesn’t want the costs of being a regional hegemon.

It’s time to stop the wishful thinking and start looking at the facts.

The Biden administration’s delicate, much criticized line recognizes the lack of a coherent alternative strategy.

On the eve of parliamentary elections, nationwide protests have ended—and a misogynist backlash is just beginning.

Why the new status quo in the Middle East might look a lot like the old one.

The move comes straight out of China’s Belt-and-Road playbook.