Turkish and US troops on patrol in northern Syria. President Donald Trump has announced he plans to withdraw US troops from the region, paving the way for great destabilisation.
AAP/EPA/Sedat Suna
The US president’s latest announcement portends a worrying outcome in a part of the world riven by years of conflict.
A lack of understanding between American and Middle-Eastern culture is a national security risk.
Lightspring/shutterstock.com
National security isn’t just about warding off physical attacks. It’s also about understanding cultural forces that drive a society to think, feel and act in certain ways, a political scientist says.
In the city of Beersheva, election banners promote Likud and Netanyahu in Russian and Hebrew as of September 15, 2019.
Hazem Bader/AFP
Immigrants and their descendants residing in the poorest peripheral cities of the state are the main supporters of the right, and Netanyahu in particular.
Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 24, 2019.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
The US has historically asked for international support when brewing conflicts in the Middle East boiled over.
The ban followed revelations of sheep suffering and dying from heat stress on voyages from Australia to the Middle East after a disturbing video was revealed.
AAP Image/ Trevor Collens
Independent observers will be on board the ships exporting live sheep to keep an eye on animal welfare.
Davide Tanasi scans an artifact from the Farid Karam collection.
Davide Tanasi
Davide Tanasi, a digital archaeologist, thinks it’s a pity when historical artifacts are locked away in storage. He’s working to fix this by sharing them as 3D models.
Benny Gantz: one seat ahead.
Atef Safadi/EPA
Coalition negotiations begin in Israel after neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor Benny Gantz secure a majority.
Israeli soldiers in the Hula Valley in the north of Israel, near the Lebanese border.
Atef Safadi/EPA
Saudi Arabia and Israeli in balancing act after strikes on Iran-backed militias.
An Islamic State photo purports to show the destruction of a Roman-era temple in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in 2015.
Islamic State/Handout via Reuters
Armed conflict in Syria has been a disaster for the area’s cultural heritage. A displaced archaeologist describes what’s being lost.
A White House rapprochement between Imran Khan and Donald Trump.
Michael Reynolds/EPA
After Imran Khan’s visit to the White House, what lies ahead for his relationship with Donald Trump?
Footage released by Iran’s Sepah News reportedly shows Revolutionary Guard Corps boarding the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero.
EPA/Sepah news handout
The wisest course from here would seem to be reopening discussions with Tehran about Gulf security and an American-imposed sanctions regime. But this will be easier said than done.
Syrian tribes have found themselves on competing sides of Syria’s ongoing civil war.
Youssef Badawi/EPA
How Syria’s tribes are being used by those both for and against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leading the Eid al-Fitr prayer ceremony in Tehran in early June.
Iranian Supreme Leader's Office/EPA
Donald Trump stepped back from launching US airstrikes inside Iran, but the conflict is unabated and there appears to be no way out of confrontation for now.
New sanctions heading Iran’s way.
Kevin Dietsch/EPA
The US has imposed new sanctions against Iran’s top leaders, but its foreign policy has no clear focus.
Israel has a powerful air force — and it’s not afraid to strike neighbors it perceives as a national security threat.
AP Photo/Ariel Schalit
The US isn’t the only country considering a military response to Iranian aggression.
Shutterstock
Recent speeches suggest there may be an appetite for closer relations, but it won’t be easy. A Saudi and an Iranian explain.
Navy boats from the United Arab Emirates next to the Al Marzoqah of Saudi Arabia, one of several international oil tankers attacked in the Gulf in May 2019. The Saudi government has blamed Iran for acts of sabotage.
Reuters/Satish Kumar
A showdown with Iran over some oil tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf could push the US into its next Mideast war, writes a scholar of military aggression.
The USS Arlington – which is being sent to the Gulf as part of a naval strike group.
David Hecker/EPA
Both Iran and the US say they are not seeking a war, but it could happen by default.
On the same day, May 14, 2018, Palestinians protest near the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip (left) while dignitaries applaud the opening ceremony of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem (right).
AP/ADEL HANA, LEFT, AND SEBASTIAN SCHEINER
About the only thing the Trump administration’s peace plan has going for it is the fact that no one expects it to work. And the plan’s likely failure could trigger more Israeli-Palestinian violence.
Benjamin Netanyahu won his fifth term as the Israel’s prime minister.
EPA/Jim Hollander
A major swing to the right and the abstention of a key demographic have bolstered the Israeli leader’s position.