Advancing Stability and Opportunity in the Middle East and North Africa
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Seasons of light: Ramadan through ancient travellers’ eyes
From Mecca and Damascus to Cairo, travellers across the centuries recorded the rhythms of Ramadan, documenting lantern-lit mosques, night prayers,…
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Iran, Mojtaba and the future of the Islamic Republic
Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment as Iran’s new Supreme Leader marks the most consequential political transition in the Islamic Republic in more…
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MBS, Guardian of Holy Places, Master of the Unholy Game
How the House of Saud weaponized Islam, at home and abroad, while its elite played by entirely different rules
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What Nouri al-Maliki’s prime minister bid tells us about Iraq
The surprise return of the controversial former leader has revealed that Iraq is still a US–Iran battleground.
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Syria’s Constitutional Void: Power Without a Framework
Syria entered 2026 without the constitutional architecture needed to hold its political transition together. More than a year after the…
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Syria is stabilizing, but US help remains vital
The second year of Syria’s transition faced a rocky start this January, with large-scale conflict erupting in the northeast between…
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Iran’s Strategic Standoff with the West and the Risks to Regional Stability
Tensions between Iran and the United States have once again become one of the central elements shaping the security environment…
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The killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is the end of a political era in Libya
Saif al-Islam wielded little influence over the current running of the state. But his presence was still a political and…
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The Radicalization of Moderate Islam by MBS
What is occurring in Saudi Arabia is best understood as the restructuring of religion toward this end: religious authority is…
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The United States Should Apply the Arab Spring’s Lessons to Its Iran Response
The uprisings showed that foreign military intervention rarely produced democratic breakthroughs.
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Integration or conflict in northeastern Syria? Ten key points to consider
While Damascus seeks substantive progress on the big files of military, security, and governance integration, recent hostilities and heightened emotions…
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What Drives Iranian Protests? Voices from the Streets
Demonstrations in cities across Iran appear to be panicking the regime, leading to internet blackouts and fears of reprisals over…
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How Damascus and the SDF came to blows in Aleppo — and what might come next
As a senior official in US Central Command made clear when speaking to the author, the challenge now is urgent: “The…