Middle East & Africa

Simmering conflicts require more attention than can be expected from a mercurial U.S. president.

These are the year’s biggest races, from Bangladesh to Brazil.

From a high-stakes election in Ethiopia to a brewing crisis in South Sudan.

Major wars, simmering hostilities, and accelerating instability from Washington.

The 30 biggest releases in foreign affairs, history, and political science.

A record number of conflicts are wreaking havoc worldwide.

Figures from Pope Francis to Dick Cheney left behind global legacies.

Readers kept track of Trump’s whirlwind foreign policy and upheaval in the global order.

FP columnists on how the world could handle the new Washington.

Where does this year’s cease-fire agreement leave Palestinians and Israelis?

International actors may be sounding the alarm, but that doesn’t equate to meaningful action.

The figures who shaped the way we thought about the world this year.

FP Live’s guests included Europe’s top diplomat and a Gen Z economic whisperer.

How Gen Z-led movements shaped 2025—and what comes next.

How the region responded to Trump—and more—in 2025.

Our favorite excerpts of 2025.

Here are the countries that have benefited the most—and least—from the U.S. president’s decision-making.

As the second Trump administration approaches the one-year mark, here’s who is influencing key policies. 

Our favorite books—and reviews—of 2025.

Scott Anderson’s “King of Kings” offers a timely picture of U.S. myopia and miscalculation in Tehran.

Iran’s most celebrated director asks what a world after the Islamic Republic might look like.

The foiled putsch placed the continent’s geopolitics under a magnifying glass.

Barring South Africa will fundamentally weaken the G20. Its members must push back.

The coming year will determine whether the territory’s recovery can break the region’s cycle of violence.

The WFP says that it is forced to reduce rations to “the absolute minimum for survival.”

Short-term waivers are a start, but Congress must act on the full repeal Syria needs to rebuild.

The agency will be empowered to issue hundreds of billions of dollars in new loans to foreign countries.

The change to funding governments instead of NGOs is long overdue but could easily go wrong.

Diplomats and experts say Doha and Ankara have leverage, but it may not be enough.

The Islamic republic no longer controls the symbolic universe that once anchored its legitimacy.

Re-read today, Franklin Foer’s 2004 classic inadvertently suggests where globalization went wrong.

“Souleymane’s Story” interrogates the fictions we tell ourselves about what makes an acceptable migrant.

Organizations working in Gaza and Sudan say their jobs have become harder than ever.

Trump’s new document gets much right and a few things wrong.

Countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are investing capital right when the world values geopolitical swing states.

From climate to AI, other fields have bridged deep divides.

Why the Rwanda-Congo accord misses the point.

Naming it one will only bolster repression in the Middle East and the United States.

“There is no peace without the end of the occupation,” Albanese said.

Blaming Paris for Mali’s problems won’t solve them. A collective European response is needed.

The former U.S. secretary of state on Trump’s foreign policy, Americans’ shifting views on Israel, and the fight for women’s rights.

The South Asian nation has deployed a combination of flattery and strategy to get Washington on its side.

“The Things You Kill” explores the pitfalls of masculinity in modern-day Turkey.

The defense secretary is under scrutiny for a series of questionable decisions.

Decisions about the continent’s future are being made in foreign capitals.

Rights groups say the Israeli government is complicit.

How instrumental capital is reshaping the world.

Blaming foreign intervention is easy—but mistaken.

From Ukraine to the Middle East, the U.S. president is promising more than he can possibly deliver.

Major African politicians are claiming that Africa’s latest putsch was staged.

Two years of war have brought tactical changes and immense suffering, but the political status quo endures.

The arrogance that led to Iraq now threatens catastrophe in Venezuela.

As the Trump administration pledges to meet global health targets, it has terminated some of its best tools for doing so.

Shifts in U.S. policy and public support have Israelis searching for answers.

Having survived Assad and the Islamic State, Yazidis remain suspicious of Sharaa’s government.

President Museveni will be reelected in January. But the country is wondering what comes next.

Addis Ababa’s quest for Red Sea access has led to a wave of hostile rhetoric.

Unless Hamas disarms, Israeli troops are unlikely to withdraw further.

Moving the capital is an old idea and a perennial nonstarter.

From Nagorno-Karabakh to Gaza, Trump’s approach to conflict resolution has rewarded aggression and perpetuated ethnic cleansing.

The country is trying to reboot its state television, but sectarianism stands in the way.

Across the region, he has made it harder for Israel to act militarily.

Perceptions of Washington’s indifference can perpetuate a risky status quo.

The U.S. should avoid a narrow Christian focus.

The Gang Suppression Force repackages the same strategies that have failed the country for decades.

Stopping ongoing violence in conflict zones is urgent, but with today’s technology, so is gathering evidence.

The U.S. president said he’ll work with regional partners to help end Sudan’s civil war.

Trump’s threats leave Nigerians worried about superpower intentions.

The head of the Danish Refugee Council speaks about what she learned after meeting Sudanese refugees in Chad.

Why is a leading global watchdog turning a blind eye?

As Europeans debate who will fill the U.S. role on the world stage, an answer may already be apparent.

South Africa gets ready to host the bloc’s first summit in Africa.

The Saudi crown prince’s flashy trip to Washington was not enough to secure a formal atomic cooperation accord.

A cheap and practical intervention, given at birth, could save lives in conflict zones and beyond.

The U.S. Development Finance Corporation was created to help alleviate global poverty. Trump has other ideas.

Baghdad is turning away from Tehran. Can Washington capitalize on it?

U.S. troops would be obliged to defend Riyadh.

The crown prince’s visit could result in a new U.S.-Saudi defense agreement.

In Sudan and elsewhere, regional powers have used the weapons for leverage.

How Ethiopians are resisting U.S.-backed disinformation on abortions.

If Trump truly wants to be a peacemaker, he should banish the UAE from the negotiating table.

International firms should address graft before participating in a deeply compromised sector.

How Nigerians are responding to the U.S. president’s threat to attack “guns-a-blazing.”

After suffering two attacks, Qatar is doubling down on its security strategy.

Years of drought and neglect have left the city nearly unsustainable.

By embracing Sharaa, Trump hopes to bring Syria into the U.S. order.

The Syrian president, who visits the White House on Monday, just oversaw his first election.

The African Union has become a back-scratching club of heads of state.

How an ordinary ingredient became a symbol of collective complaint.

Lawmakers—including Republicans—are frustrated over a lack of communication.

How the “island of stability” in a turbulent region descended into chaos—and where it goes from here.

Undermining the group in Lebanon requires targeting its networks abroad.

Most of the world seems very eager to avoid joining the territory’s international stabilization force.

Gen Z protesters now have buyer’s remorse.

Will voters settle the score with Bibi—or double down on him?

Trump’s Nigeria obsession distracts from the real al Qaeda crisis in the Sahel.

A murdering militia still depends on international legitimacy to survive.

As a more technical body, the task force might be able to fill the gap left by Security Council paralysis.

The former U.S. vice president set out to strengthen the power of the presidency and the country but ultimately undermined both.

A U.S. military intervention would be a disaster in an already divided country.