Dispatch

A peculiar deal that symbolized the entente between Israel and the UAE could get nixed.

With violence on the rise and the U.S. military drawing down, international donors are pulling back some assistance to Afghanistan. Women in refugee camps stand to suffer.

Another Israeli election and a rebellion in the ruling Likud party spell trouble for Netanyahu.

How business interests prevent Lebanon from rebuilding its infrastructure, government, and economy.

India’s attack on Kashmiri autonomy has united two parties that were once sworn enemies. The newly formed Gupkar Alliance could reshape the disputed region’s politics and cause problems for the BJP.

The Faroe Islands have a history of trading with everyone who will buy their fish. With growing tensions in the Arctic region, the islands are now receiving more attention from superpowers.

A move to dissolve parliament could mean a fourth ballot in less than two years.

Politicians and warlords have benefited from decades of violence. The victims of the country’s endless wars could provide the key to a lasting peace.

The U.S. president-elect wants to reengage with Iran, but Israel has other plans.

Now that it’s beaten back the Islamic State, the Kurdistan Regional Government is focusing its attention on a group it has long tolerated.

New agriculture laws are making a desperate situation more dire. 

The Russian-brokered cease-fire that ended six weeks of fighting means soldiers on the ground—either as peacekeepers or as a vanguard of Putin’s latest garrison state.

Terrorist violence and COVID-19 have set maternal health back decades.

Afghan officials are trying to contain a spate of kidnappings and armed robberies that appear designed to bolster public thirst for Taliban-style justice—just ahead of a critical donor meeting.

At least 2,500 Mexicans in the United States, many of them essential workers, have died from COVID-19. Back home in Mexico, their grieving families are left without support.

Facing a military-backed government, Thai protesters find musical inspiration.

Many Afghans want the groups disbanded when the United States withdraws.

As Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed goes to war against Ethiopia’s former rulers—the Tigray People’s Liberation Front—Khartoum’s moves will determine whether the conflict remains a local affair or a regional conflagration.

Netanyahu has a wish list for the lame-duck president while Trump has a score to settle with Biden.

In the 1990s, the Azerbaijani population was expelled. Now Armenians could face the same fate.

By casting his lot with Trump, the U.K. prime minister now looks like yesterday’s man. He is in for a rude awakening.

The country’s Catholic conservatives have achieved a long-sought goal—and may have fatally weakened their power in the process.

Abiy Ahmed’s military move against the Tigray region could spark a conflict with the party that once dominated Ethiopian politics—and tear the country apart. 

Trump’s insults and ideological closeness to Marine Le Pen have left a bitter taste.

Trump has showered Netanyahu with foreign-policy favors, but a Biden win could be a harsh wake-up call for Israelis.

Corruption, oligarchs, and media concentration have weakened Bulgarian democracy.

The protests that began as a movement against police brutality have much bigger goals—including regime change.

Both the government and demonstrators are borrowing tactics from Hong Kong.

After a confrontation with the royal motorcade, the government is cracking down.

Religious violence is growing despite the pandemic.

The burning of the Moria refugee camp in Lesbos has exposed the EU’s short-sighted, inhumane, and ineffective approach to asylum.

As the United States abandons demands for human rights, young Afghans are embracing free speech the only place they can—on the Internet.

The biggest rallies in years are risking the wrath of royalists eager to use the lèse-majesté law.