Dispatch
The view from the ground.
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Turkish-backed Syrian Arab fighters man a checkpoint in the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin in northern Syria after seizing control of it from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) on March 18, 2018. The Fight for ISIS’s Old Territory Is Just Beginning
A host of forces including Turkish and Iranian proxies to Russian troops and Syrian government forces are jockeying for control of the lands that once were held by the Islamic State.
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A Lebanese anti-government demonstrator waves a stick while confronting supporters of the Shiite groups Hezbollah and Amal in Beirut on Nov. 25. Untouchable No More: Hezbollah’s Fading Reputation
As Hezbollah sides with Lebanon's political elite, protesters in Beirut are increasingly willing to criticize it.
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Supporters of the Law and Justice party watch the announcement of the results of the Polish parliamentary elections on television screens in Warsaw on Oct. 13. Poland’s State of the Media
How public television became an outlet for the Law and Justice party—and what it means for democracy.
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A convoy of U.S. armored vehicles patrols the northeastern Syrian town of Qahtaniyah No ‘End Date’ for U.S. Troops in Syria
Top general is confident he can keep pressure on the Islamic State, but a recent watchdog report says the group could reconstitute.
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Demonstrators take cover as clashing with riot police during a protest against President Sebastian Piñera on November 19, 2019 in Santiago, Chile. (Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images) From Model to Muddle: Chile’s Sad Slide Into Upheaval
Chile’s government has sought for years to fix inequality problems that date to free market reforms under Pinochet. It just wasn’t nearly enough.
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Fatima Khode al-Shalla, 36, walks through her home in Malkef, Syria, on Nov. 6 as her family prepares to move to another village about 15 miles to the west to avoid the advancing war. Life on the Front Lines in Northern Syria
With echoes of shelling from Turkish-allied forces nearby, families sheltering in abandoned villages wonder when they can go home.
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Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command Top U.S. General: It’s ‘Very Possible’ Iran Will Attack Again
The threat from Tehran continues to increase despite U.S. military buildup, U.S. Central Command’s Gen. Kenneth McKenzie says.
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Moldovan President Igor Dodon Moldova’s Failed Revolution Is Not Over Yet
Explaining every political crisis in a former Soviet country as a tug of war between East and West misses the point. The problem is a system of nepotism, patronage, and entrenched corruption.
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People demonstrate under pouring rain in Bogotá on Nov. 21. Colombia Joins Latin America’s Wave of Protests
After hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators took to the streets, President Iván Duque’s administration faces calls to address a range of demands.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Back to the Wall, Netanyahu Fights for His Political Life
Even after a devastating indictment, it may be too soon to count out the Israeli prime minister known as “the magician.”
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Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Erdogan’s Attacks on His Old Ally Could Backfire
The Turkish president is shutting down a university to punish former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for leaving the AKP and starting a new party, but he risks alienating precisely the voters he claims to champion.
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Demonstrators march through Santiago, Chile, on Nov. 12. Chile’s Protesters Have Won a Path to a New Constitution
Here’s why they want to replace the dictatorship-era document.
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Protesters link arms to hold the line at a roadblock on the Ring Bridge in Beirut on Oct. 26. To the Barricades in Beirut
Lebanese protesters are reappropriating roadblocks—long a mark of civil war-era division—as a symbol of unity.
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Iraqi protesters clash with security forces at Baghdad's Khallani Square during ongoing anti-government demonstrations on Nov. 11. Shades of Saddam
With killings, beatings, and disappearances, the Iraqi government is growing more authoritarian in response to the protests.
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A man waves an Indian flag near Chungking Mansions, a popular haunt among minority South Asians and Africans in Hong Kong, as police keep watch at a crosswalk during a pro-democracy rally in Tsim Sha Tsui district on Oct. 27. Hong Kong’s Minorities Face Racism From Police and Protesters
Ethnic tensions are coming to the fore, but many minorities find solidarity with activists.
