Middle East & Africa

One year after an uprising over women’s rights, the government has passed a harsh new hijab law.

Libyans, among others, are sick of the Russian mercenaries.

A sweeping new history of the country focuses primarily on elites, rather than the grassroots movements that overturned apartheid.

Poor global and domestic governance made a foreseeable and preventable disaster in Derna a catastrophe.

Netanyahu wants a normalization deal with the Saudis, but his hard-right coalition partners will undermine his plans.

The idea of emerging power centers is popular but wrong—and could lead to serious policy mistakes.

Ahead of a presidential election, debate in Buenos Aires reveals the mounting challenges of multi-alignment.

NATO, China, Russia, and regional powers all want closer ties to a stable West African nation with crucial energy supplies and a strategically valuable location.

Washington must lean on Abu Dhabi to halt its support for Hemeti’s RSF.

Beijing’s global maritime operations double as intelligence-gathering outposts.

Another crackdown is targeting Black Africans seeking to enter the EU.

The supreme leader learned what not to do from the Shah.

Unusually virulent weather and poor infrastructure have brought hell to eastern Libya.

Fear of Chinese influence must not take precedence over protecting democracy.

Test yourself on the week of Sept. 9: An earthquake devastates Morocco, Kim Jong Un leaves Pyongyang for a key summit, and a French official is arrested abroad.

As another multilateral forum issued a watered-down statement, Russia and North Korea met to deepen military ties.

An outbreak of Arab-Kurdish violence threatens to upset the delicate balance that kept the Islamic State and other U.S. adversaries at bay.

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.

Riyadh’s forces are killing defenseless Ethiopian migrants at its border, and Washington and its allies don’t seem to care.

And what it means for future negotiators.

How the extended Bongo family ousted a president but maintained its control of the country.

Test yourself on the week of Sept. 2: A new development in Guatemala’s election, China’s charm offensive, and African leaders’ call to the international community.

A parliamentary inquiry into an alleged 2012 murder by British soldiers is causing a diplomatic crisis for the U.K. government.

The Turkish leader is in a weak position to dictate the terms of what the new normal with Syria will be.

The desert kingdom’s rebranding project goes way beyond sportswashing. But it’s all a little too contrived.

The factors that have contributed to instability in the region.

Critics say petrodollars are wrecking the beautiful game—in a way that rubles, euros, and baht never quite did.

Paris is complicit in the lack of social and democratic progress that prompted the coup.

The bloc’s new members include countries New Delhi is keen to expand ties with.

Foreign funds can produce stronger and less accountable militaries.

By falsely labeling all critics as Muslim Brotherhood shills, the Egyptian president shows how scared he really is.

The president’s son is a loose cannon—and he’s angling for his father’s job.

There’s a dangerous flip side to Saudi Arabia’s potential new diplomatic deal.

New additions to the bloc from Africa are linked by their opposition to a Western-dominated financial system.

But it is a warning shot for the West to end its strategic slumber in the global south.

Calls grow for Washington to reset its Africa strategy, but old habits die hard.

Rapid population growth is about to hit the countries whose economies and climates are least equipped to handle it.

A diplomatic deadlock over a 50-year-old pipeline agreement is wreaking havoc in the region—and beyond.

Moscow relishes being a player in Africa, but committing to another foreign war wouldn’t serve its interests.

In death, Yevgeny Prigozhin got a taste of his own messaging medicine.

Benjamin Netanyahu has long warned of the perils of a nuclear Middle East. Now he seems willing to allow Saudi nukes in exchange for normalization.

Inside the U.S.-led training program which aims to finally eradicate al-Shabab.

Despite Russia’s decline and China’s economic woes, the idea of a nondollarized economy has strong appeal across the continent.

Amid a stalemate at the border, it’s clear that Xi Jinping still has the upper hand.

Despite revisionist claims, documents show the critical U.S. role in Mosaddeq’s fall.

Harare has Africa’s largest lithium reserves and Beijing is poised to benefit, despite an export ban.

Tehran has shifted to using carrots in the region—and reserving sticks for the United States and Israel.

But the Biden administration’s latest negotiations with Tehran are still the best option available.

Ghost voyages and dark port calls by Russian and Iranian vessels are enabling both countries to circumvent Western sanctions and thrive in a shadow economy.

Is it a turning point for geopolitics in Africa?

“Japa” contains both the hope and the pain of wanting to leave one’s country behind for better opportunities.

Low vaccination coverage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo raises the risk of diseases spreading and adapting undetected.

The coup leader-turned-president promised Egyptians prosperity, but the country is flat broke.

Despite Moscow’s best attempts at controlling the narrative, there exists a power vacuum in the region—and a need to rethink alliances.

ECOWAS has threatened armed intervention but a lack of popular support in Nigeria and bellicose rhetoric from Mali and Burkina Faso could make the bloc think twice.

Worldcoin trades cryptocurrency for eyeball scans, creating a global ID database and scaring the willies out of privacy experts.

The crisis has created a truly geopolitical moment for intra-African politics.

The mercenary group is a product of the system Putin built, and he can’t dismantle it without undermining Moscow’s global influence.

Nigeria has understandable security concerns, but using force to dislodge Niger’s junta could spark a refugee crisis and regional war.

Ambitious leaders in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are restructuring national identity to solidify their rule.

Turkey has turned its back on the Islamist group, eliminating one of its last safe havens.

ECOWAS’s Sunday deadline to reimpose Niger’s president could be the starting pistol for war across West Africa.

Investors tend to stay, even after countries become less democratic.

Women helped bring down the country’s Islamist dictator—and are still stuck with fundamentalism.

Weak institutions and underdevelopment also plague nations led by undemocratic regimes.

The whole region wants to jump into the fray.

Mediation offers from China aren’t made in good faith.

The judiciary needs to strike down Netanyahu’s judicial reform before he turns Israel into a sham democracy—just as Viktor Orban did in Hungary.

Biden’s IRA is shutting African countries out of supply chains for critical minerals. Including them would be a strategic and diplomatic win.

A growing list of people protected from justice highlights a pervasive culture of impunity.

Most global powers with a military presence or financial stake in the country stand to lose from instability—and that could put pressure on the military junta.

The country’s Supreme Court has played a pivotal role in securing gender equality. Neutering it will deal a blow to women’s rights.

Bola Tinubu’s new role as ECOWAS chair, and the coup in Niger, present an opportunity for a foreign-policy reset.

The image of starving Africans may score propaganda points for the West, but Russia’s suspension of the deal arguably does more harm to wealthier countries.

What would it mean for Hussein al-Sheikh to lead a people whose dream of independence is no longer alive?

For years, Western policies have only paid lip service to seeing the Sahel in terms of its own immense problems.

But Europe and Israel have yet to take surveillance abuses seriously.

The once-powerful organization’s disappearance from headlines and the broader foreign-policy conversation is remarkable.

Making nice with Assad was supposed to help stabilize the country. It has done the opposite.

Iran’s vibrant tradition of literature translation is becoming collateral damage in the Raisi regime’s retrograde cultural agenda.

Test yourself on the week of July 22: Spain heads to the polls, Israel forces through a judicial overhaul, and Putin courts African leaders.

Justices are asked to stem Netanyahu’s authoritarian drift.

Secular Israelis fear the growing Haredi population will give religious parties more power. Economics and labor market trends suggest their power is fading.

Here are the top destinations that might be next.

The answer could have wide-ranging implications for U.S. policy in Africa and beyond

There are limits to what U.S. President Joe Biden may be willing and able to do when intervening in the politics and governance of a close ally.

Despite the policy whiplash at the NATO summit, Erdogan has been remarkably consistent in his foreign-policy goals.

The argument that African countries should be disqualified from getting back their stolen artifacts because of past sins is deeply hypocritical.

Climate change endangers the Tigris and Euphrates—but it’s not the only reason the rivers are vanishing.

An entire generation is taking to the streets to resist what they see as the rise of a corrupt theocracy.

Removing fuel subsidies and floating the naira’s exchange rate may please international lenders, but the policies could trap millions in poverty.

Israel’s support of right-wing politics abroad has backfired.

South Africa’s support for Russia after its invasion of Ukraine has incensed some in Washington.

When it comes to increasing its security footprint abroad, Beijing is facing a conundrum in reconciling Maoist doctrine with contemporary reality.

Sappers are working to clear the land of a deadly past.

Seven months after the formation of the Israeli government, the prime minister still hasn’t been asked to visit Washington.

Gulf heavyweights view the conflict as an opportunity to cement their hegemonic status in the Middle East.

Rare consensus in Washington is an opportunity the Gulf countries and Israel should not waste.

Restoring Washington’s ties with Addis Ababa must not come at the expense of justice for victims of human rights violations.

Those who fled Turkey are now facing extradition as Ankara seeks concessions from Stockholm before approving its NATO bid.

Western experts are putting forward failed policies rather than reckoning with the damage Israeli apartheid has caused.

Israelis and Palestinians remain trapped in a volatile, bloody cul-de-sac with little prospect of a way out.

Without a strong and respected Palestinian Authority, Israel won’t accomplish its ambitious diplomatic goals or restore security.

The political divisions and military rivalries that sparked civil war in Khartoum could erupt in post-Biya Yaoundé.

Putin faces a choice between punishing Prigozhin and ceding influence and territory to Tehran.

As authoritarian capitalism gains credibility, free societies must overcome their internal weaknesses.

Ten years after Egypt’s coup, Washington has yet to learn that authoritarian stability is an illusion.

It’s time to take New Delhi’s projection of power in the region seriously.

Biden’s detractors worry the U.S. administration is doubling down on policy failures in Sudan.

The decision, despite evidence of ongoing abuses, clears the way to new economic aid.

Foreign powers’ obsessive focus on a transition process empowered generals and weakened democracy activists, paving the way to war.

A mutiny in Russia could have consequences for the mercenary group’s activities abroad.

Biden targets Wagner in Africa, even if its fate is uncertain in Russia.

Why the United States will regret putting effort into its latest Middle East policy.

Heightened great power competition is allowing nations to make deals in their own best interests.

Ghana’s economic troubles long preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to its politicians’ penchant for overspending.

How the Polisario Front’s 50-year war for independence is escalating a battle over a territory long disputed—and feeding a broader crisis.

Sierra Leone is about to become the latest country to find out.

Enlargement would be a sign not of the group’s strength, but of China’s growing influence.

The global south’s debts have reached alarming levels, and Beijing is tightening the screws.

Cyril Ramaphosa and other leaders picked an inopportune moment to push for a truce.

An informal agreement is a poor substitute for an official one—but exactly what the circumstances call for.

What the latest dealmaking in professional golf reveals about foreign policy.

Israel’s border policies are a danger to the principles of visa reciprocity.

Why the American doll never made it abroad.

The civil war between two rival generals has rekindled bloodshed, bad blood, and ethnic tensions in the tinderbox of Darfur.

The defenses that made the country unique are falling one by one—leaving political discontent and spiritual voids exposed to al Qaeda.

The weapons may bolster the very rebel groups West African governments are trying to defeat.

The region’s players all have their own interests in a stable Syria.

A landmark case against Meta in Kenya could reshape the way tech giants operate on the continent.

From Syria to Israel’s borders to the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian de-escalation is nowhere to be found.

Erdogan has two priorities: to chart a more assertive presence for Turkey and to leverage Ankara’s position inside Western institutions to make that happen.

A quiet bureaucratic maneuver by Netanyahu’s government has begun transferring control over the occupied territory from military to civilian leadership—violating international law.

Media saturation, manipulation of the economy, and culture wars helped the longtime leader hold on to his base.

As a member of the ICC, Pretoria is obligated to arrest the Russian leader, but he has a standing invitation to visit the country in August.

Investigations at home and abroad offer hope of justice for the country’s crisis.

Bola Tinubu turned Lagos into a great city. Can he transform all of Nigeria?

These middle powers of the global south should be the focus of U.S. policy.

It would be a dramatic accomplishment, but not nearly as transformational as many may think.

In the aftermath of nationwide protests, tensions are rising among the Iranian establishment.

Kais Saied’s government refuses to reckon with the country’s rampant anti-Semitism.

Private groups want to evacuate hundreds more. The Biden administration wants nothing to do with it.

But there’s one option for resolving the conflict that just might work.

In the midst of uncertainty, people stick with the devil they know.

After promising democratic reforms, the junta is attacking the press and opposition.

Democracy is holding despite social and regional divisions.

The debate about regulating AI urgently needs input from the global south.

Too much news is routed through London and New York. The capitals of the global south need to step up.

As Turkey's centennial nears, its founding secularism may no longer be in fashion—but nationalism is.

Warring generals look abroad for support as millions remain displaced.

The energy transition depends on building partnerships with African states.

Despite a strong foothold during the Cold War, Washington has since fumbled on the continent.

A new book shows its history as anything but sweet.

The ANC has forgotten that the outside world’s principled rejection of neutrality sustained the struggle against apartheid.

Sometimes you not only need to vote—you also need to vote with your feet.

Do South Africa’s denials that it supplied weapons to Russia ring true?

Erdogan’s better-than-expected showing is a reminder that hope isn’t analysis.

Wagner Group operations, disinformation efforts, and Western double standards are fueling Moscow’s popularity.

Washington’s Middle Eastern partners can help prevent Sudan from becoming another Libya.

Khartoum now faces civil war. What does the U.S. have to do with it?

Western leaders and filmmakers have long denied the link between modern Egypt and its ancient heritage.

Blanket bans on gas finance stifle development, hurt climate goals, and reek of hypocrisy.

Mohammed bin Salman’s middle finger to Washington is burnishing Riyadh’s image.

The East African country, once a beacon for change, now faces civil war.

The opposition could win. But what happens if Erdogan loses?

It ensured that even in the worst-case scenario, Iran would be proliferating from a lower baseline.

China, India, and the Gulf countries have pursued a combination of trade and aid the United States can learn from.

Greater ethnic diversity, debt burdens, and democratized politics have complicated Africa’s path to development.

But can they cooperate on trade while competing on investment?

The news on climate change is grim—but the Emirates’ hosting of COP28 could be a breakthrough.

Westerners should ask instead what kind of partnerships their own countries offer to the continent.

Rached Ghannouchi’s arrest and Ali Laarayedh’s imprisonment reveal the extent of Kais Saied’s attack on democracy.

A power struggle in the capital, Khartoum, could destabilize neighboring Chad and impact the entire Sahel region.

Lawmakers are worried about an Afghanistan repeat.

The fighting in Khartoum continues as embassies evacuate diplomats.

The system of government set up after 2003 has run its course.

Countries that prefer peace to chaos should hope for a quick army victory over the RSF.

How the reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia could reorder the region.

Sudan’s power struggle is a textbook case of the credible commitment problem in international relations.

The top U.S. general is the latest to try to end the six days of fighting that has killed 300 people.

A misguided effort to integrate the RSF into the Sudanese Armed Forces led to a tragic but predictable conflict.

Some officials privately worry it’s too little, too late.

A third bailout package will not provide long-term assurances for Tunisia’s economy and will exacerbate inequalities.

Moscow’s weapons could sabotage the spirit of reconciliation rippling through the region.

Officials fear evacuations are easier said than done as fighting sweeps through Khartoum.

The long-brewing power struggle between Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has plunged the country into civil war.

Personality rules in a country where political parties were once kingmakers.

Peace negotiations are picking up pace to end the deadly conflict.

After China’s crackdown, foreign education providers eye opportunities in countries such as Nigeria and Egypt.

Middle Eastern leaders are promoting interfaith initiatives to disguise harsh policies at home and abroad.

The battle for urban space in Kampala shows how Africa’s informal workers are rattling ruling regimes.

Its GDP has surged, but deep inequalities persist.

A state that considers equality an existential threat can never be a democracy.

Outside powers take a growing interest in this oil-rich African state where the U.S. Embassy has been closed since 2014.

The agreement is about far more than just normalizing ties with Riyadh.

Riyadh is shifting to non-alignment—and fighting to dominate oil markets again.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to weaken Israel’s democracy—and the public’s stunning resistance—has unsettled the country.

The ideal vision for Iraq post-2003 did not materialize as foreseen, but this should not be the sole prism through which we judge the country now.

If Biden is genuinely committed to human rights, he won’t stand in the way of a bipartisan Senate resolution.

The attack in the Central African Republic may tie back to rebels—or Russian mercenaries.