Middle East
Regional security, proxy networks, escalation risk, and conflict diplomacy across the Middle East.
192 Dispatches
Operation Nimrod: How the SAS Ended the Iranian Embassy Siege
How the SAS stormed the Iranian Embassy in 1980, ending a six-day siege in 17 minutes and turning a near-massacre into a defining rescue.
Operation Opera: Israel's Daring 1981 Raid on Iraq's Osirak Reactor
How Israel destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, the assassinations that preceded the strike, the F-16 raid itself, and its disputed legacy.
Pakistan and Afghanistan Are Still at War: The Cross-Border Conflict the World Stopped Watching
As the Iran war dominates headlines, Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have descended into open conflict, with airstrikes on Kabul, daily border skirmishes, and tens of thousands displaced.
Poland Wants to Go Nuclear: How a Single Sentence Signaled a New Age of Proliferation
Donald Tusk's nuclear remark to the Sejm, plus rising tension across Taiwan, Syria, and Pakistan's Balochistan, mark a more dangerous global moment.
The Saudi-Pakistan Defense Pact: A Mutual Defense Deal Already in Doubt
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact in September. Months later, a nuclear question, an Islamic NATO debate, and an uninvoked clause cloud its future.
Situation Room AMA: Rojava, Mozambique, the Afghan-Pakistan Flashpoint, and Why Europe Isn't a Superpower
A reader-driven survey of four under-covered fault lines — Kurdish-run Rojava, Mozambique's post-election revolt, the Afghan-Pakistani border war, and Europe's unrealized power.
The Situation Room: China, Japan, Syria, Sudan, and the Logic of the Trump Doctrine
A wide-angle analysis of a China-Japan war, Syria after Assad, the El-Fasher massacre, the Trump Doctrine, Mexico's cartels, and nuclear landmines.
China's Wa State, Russia's Sahel Collapse, Colombia's Slide, and the ISIS Comeback
Four flashpoints converge in 2025: China's Wa State proxy in Myanmar, Wagner's Sahel exit, Colombia's security crisis, and an ISIS resurgence in Iraq and Syria.
Germany's Rearmament, the Gaza Endgame, and the Red Sea's New Shadow War
Germany rebuilds a high-tech military, Europe and the Arab world corner Israel over Gaza, and a Houthi-al-Shabaab pact reshapes Red Sea security.
Situation Room: A Yemen Ground Invasion, al-Shabaab's March on Mogadishu, Haiti's Collapse, and Nigeria's Massacres
Four conflicts at the breaking point: an imminent anti-Houthi offensive in Yemen, al-Shabaab encircling Mogadishu, Haiti past collapse, and massacres in central Nigeria.
Starting the Iran War Was Easy. Stopping It Will Be Hard
Why Washington, the Gulf states, and Israel cannot agree on an off-ramp from the Iran war, and why Tehran may end up deciding when the fighting stops.
Syria Is Breaking Apart: What the US Withdrawal Really Left Behind
After Washington's exit, two stories of Syria compete. One sees a country turning a corner under Ahmed al-Sharaa; the other sees a state collapsing in slow motion.