Middle East
Regional security, proxy networks, escalation risk, and conflict diplomacy across the Middle East.
192 Dispatches
Is the U.S. Military Losing Its Edge? What the War With Iran Exposed
The war with Iran exposed drone vulnerabilities, interceptor shortages, and eroding alliances behind America's trillion-dollar military machine.
The Islamic State's Quiet Resurgence: A Global Network Rebuilt for the Shadows
Stripped of its caliphate, the Islamic State has gone global, online, and underground—expanding from Somalia to Syria to the Sahel while the world looks away.
Israel and Palestine: A Comprehensive History of the World's Most Intractable Conflict
From Ottoman Syria and the Balfour Declaration to the Nakba, the intifadas, and October 2023 — the century-long history of Israel and Palestine.
The Israel-Iran War of 2025: Inside the Twelve-Day War That Remade the Middle East
A deep analysis of the 2025 Israel-Iran war, from the nuclear standoff and Operation Rising Lion to America's B-2 strikes and the fragile ceasefire.
Has Israel Bitten Off More Than It Can Chew? The Strain of a Seven-Front War
Israel's near-continuous war across seven fronts is exposing manpower shortages, interceptor depletion, and a coalition collapse over the draft and settler violence.
Israel's Strike on Iran: Operation Days of Repentance and the Widening Middle East War
How Israel's October 2024 strike on Iran was engineered to punish without escalating, while the grinding war in Lebanon pushed the region toward a wider conflict.
Israel's Strike on Iran: Operation Days of Repentance and the War Across the Middle East
How Israel's October 2024 retaliatory strike on Iran was calibrated to punish without escalating, and how the war in Lebanon kept grinding on.
Joe Biden's Foreign Policy Legacy: The Tarnished Record of America's 46th President
A region-by-region assessment of Joe Biden's foreign policy, from the Afghanistan withdrawal and Ukraine to the Middle East, China, Haiti, and Africa.
The Middle East Agrees: Iran Must Fall
Nineteen days into the Iran war, Israeli strikes have killed two repression chiefs, the Gulf has turned on Tehran, and a second front rages in Lebanon.
The Middle East Agrees: Iran Must Fall
Nineteen days into the war, Israeli strikes have killed Iran's top enforcers, the Gulf states have turned on Tehran, and the Strait of Hormuz has become the world's most contested waterway.
How Morocco Won Western Sahara at the Negotiating Table, Not on the Battlefield
After 55 years of conflict, Morocco's diplomatic campaign and a new autonomy plan have all but sealed its control of Western Sahara over the Polisario Front.
NATO's Turkey Problem: Ankara's Drift Toward Strategic Independence
Turkey's first ICBM, its booming arms industry, and its cold war with Israel are widening NATO's most awkward fault line under Erdogan.