The new secretary of state once called the Iran nuclear deal ‘unconscionable.’ If he supports Trump’s instinct to scrap the agreement on May 12, it could unleash violence across the volatile Mideast.
The Pentagon briefs the media on strikes against Assad’s chemical weapons facilities.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
A recent intervention by the US, the UK and France is only part of a far broader – and deadlier – campaign.
The “Burney Relief,” which is believed to represent either Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, or her older sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the underworld (c. 19th or 18th century BC)
BabelStone
Sex was central to life in ancient Mesopotamia. And the authors of Sumerian love poetry, depicting the exploits of divine couples, showed a wealth of practical knowledge about the stages of female sexual arousal.
While the Syria strikes were clearly violating international law, using force to uphold the ban on chemical weapons is becoming acceptable in the international community.
President Erdoğan of Turkey is happy to jaw-jaw, but will war-war where necessary.
Vassil Donev
Rebuilding Syria will be complex and costly. But expertise and extensive funds will be in short supply due the geopolitical absence of the US and other Western countries.
If journal editors fail to retract or properly flag data revealed as inaccurate, they leave open the possibility that it’ll be cited for years to come.
Egyptians’ revolutionary demands for ‘bread, freedom and social justice’ are a distant memory.
Protestors stand behind burning barricades during clashes with riot police near the Tunisian capital of Tunis in January 2018. Violent protests over price hikes raised fears of broader unrest in the country that was the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
(AP Photo/Amine Landoulsi)
Decentralization in the Middle East and North Africa is supposed to lead to greater public representation in municipal politics. In fact, it is largely strengthening authoritarianism.
Palestinian laborers work at a construction site in an Israeli settlement near Jerusalem in 2017.
AP Photo/Oded Balilty
The Trump administration may believe they have the key to an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement – when others have failed. But it ignores how Israelis and Palestinians feel about such an agreement.
Senior Associate Fellow on the Middle East at RUSI; Associate Professor in Politics & International Relations; Deputy Director of the Centre on US Politics, UCL