Middle East & Africa
An illustration shows the lopped off lower half of the globe with a diverse group of people holding it up from below for a story about the term "the global south."
An illustration shows the lopped off lower half of the globe with a diverse group of people holding it up from below for a story about the term "the global south."

Is There Such Thing as a Global South?

The category is emotionally powerful but fundamentally flawed.

Analysis
C. Raja Mohan
Mothers sit in a row with their babies and young children inside a large tent illuminated with string lights. One of the women sitting in the foreground has a wide smile as she looks down at the baby she cradles in her arms.
Mothers sit in a row with their babies and young children inside a large tent illuminated with string lights. One of the women sitting in the foreground has a wide smile as she looks down at the baby she cradles in her arms.

New Lifesaving Malaria Vaccines Need to Be Available Now

Emergency deployment could save tens of thousands of children.

Argument
Zacharia Kafuko
Biden delivers remarks from a lectern in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Biden delivers remarks from a lectern in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

It’s Time to Reconsider U.S. Military Aid

As Congress stalls, the U.S. public has good reason to demand more transparency on Biden’s funding for Ukraine and Israel.

Argument
Howard W. French
A Palestinian is seen from behind as they look outside through a large broken window. Some shards of fractured glass remain in the frame, but the rest of the opening reveals dark smoke billowing from a dense street of buildings in Gaza City. The sky is otherwise light but hazy.
A Palestinian is seen from behind as they look outside through a large broken window. Some shards of fractured glass remain in the frame, but the rest of the opening reveals dark smoke billowing from a dense street of buildings in Gaza City. The sky is otherwise light but hazy.

How Will This War End? How Can the Next One be Prevented?

FP asks experts two questions about the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians.

Roundup
Zaha Hassan, Daniel C. Kurtzer, Omar M. Dajani, Diana Buttu, Peter R. Mansoor, Daniel Levy, Ehud Olmert, Eugene Kontorovich, Elliott Abrams
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (back) greets U.S. President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (back) greets U.S. President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.

Why Israel Needs America’s Tough Love

An argument for making U.S. aid conditional on steps toward Palestinian statehood.

Argument
Yagil Levy
Israeli military vehicles drive near the border with the Gaza Strip on Dec. 6 as black smoke rises in the Palestinian territory amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
Israeli military vehicles drive near the border with the Gaza Strip on Dec. 6 as black smoke rises in the Palestinian territory amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Why Israel Will Probably End Up Reoccupying Gaza

Everyone seems to agree it is a bad idea. It might happen anyway.

Analysis
Steven A. Cook
Export oil pipelines are seen at an oil facility on Iran’s Khark Island, on the shore of the Persian Gulf, on Feb. 23, 2016.
Export oil pipelines are seen at an oil facility on Iran’s Khark Island, on the shore of the Persian Gulf, on Feb. 23, 2016.

Is Biden Ignoring Iran’s Sanctions Evasion?

Republicans say the U.S. president is allowing Iran’s increased oil exports. The evidence suggests otherwise.

Analysis
Ali Ahmadi
The leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, shakes hands with Iranian Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri and the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard force, General Hossein Salami, during the swearing in ceremony for Iran's new president at the parliament in the Islamic republic's capital Tehran on August 5, 2021.
The leader of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, shakes hands with Iranian Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri and the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard force, General Hossein Salami, during the swearing in ceremony for Iran's new president at the parliament in the Islamic republic's capital Tehran on August 5, 2021.

The 7 Reasons Iran Won’t Fight for Hamas

A close look at Tehran’s thinking about escalating the war in Gaza.

Argument
Arash Reisinezhad
US President Joe Biden joins Israel's Prime Minister for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
US President Joe Biden joins Israel's Prime Minister for the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

Rashid Khalidi: Biden Deserves an “F” on the Middle East

The Palestinian-American historian and professor on the road ahead after Oct. 7.

Insider
Ravi Agrawal
John Ackah Blay-Miezah smokes a cigar in the London office of the Oman Ghana Trust Fund in the 1980s.
John Ackah Blay-Miezah smokes a cigar in the London office of the Oman Ghana Trust Fund in the 1980s.

The Man Who Conned the World

How one of the greatest scam artists of all time used Ghana’s colonial past to get rich.

Excerpt
Yepoka Yeebo
An aerial view of Imburu, Nigeria, following flooding caused by heavy rainfall, on Sept. 25, 2022.
An aerial view of Imburu, Nigeria, following flooding caused by heavy rainfall, on Sept. 25, 2022.

The Dark Side of Climate Finance

At COP28, poor countries should be careful what they wish for.

Argument
Vijaya Ramachandran, Alex Smith
Biden, dressed in a casual half-zip sweatshirt, looks pensively downward as he stands facing numerous press microphones held out in his direction.
Biden, dressed in a casual half-zip sweatshirt, looks pensively downward as he stands facing numerous press microphones held out in his direction.

Grading Biden on the Israel-Hamas War

For a crisis with so many moving parts, the U.S. president has fared pretty well.

Argument
Steven Simon, Aaron David Miller
Kissinger stands at a lectern with microphones with a large world map on the wall behind him.
Kissinger stands at a lectern with microphones with a large world map on the wall behind him.

Kissinger’s Great Game

In his worldview, little countries only mattered to the extent that they played into struggles among the mighty.

Argument
Howard W. French

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