Middle East

Middle East tensions remain high. Syria sees intensified MoD–SDF clashes and tribal attacks. Gaza faces continued Israeli operations despite reduced hostilities. Iran’s protests persist under heavy repression. Yemen’s Saudi‑UAE proxy fighting escalates in the south. Regional instability continues across fronts.

Opinion: US Dumps Kurds for Damascus - Realpolitik Ends Rojava Dream

The abrupt US abandonment of the Syrian Democratic Forces reveals a cold realpolitik calculation—trading Kurdish autonomy for state stability and NATO cohesion in a realignment that ends the Rojava experiment

By Layla Hassan

/ 21 Jan 2026

Opinion: US Dumps Kurds for Damascus - Realpolitik Ends Rojava Dream

US pivots to Syrian state as Kurdish partnership expires

Envoy Barrack's declaration marks the formal end of America's decade-long counter-ISIS alliance with Syrian Kurdish forces

By Layla Hassan

/ 21 Jan 2026

US pivots to Syrian state as Kurdish partnership expires

Syrian transition tensions trigger ISIS prison break in Shaddadi

Collapse of SDF-Damascus security arrangements leaves thousands of militants unaccounted for in Hasaka

By Layla Hassan

/ 19 Jan 2026

Syrian transition tensions trigger ISIS prison break in Shaddadi

Syrian Army closes in on Raqqa as SDF retreats east of Euphrates

Military developments and territorial shifts

By Layla Hassan

/ 18 Jan 2026

Syrian Army closes in on Raqqa as SDF retreats east of Euphrates

US personnel advised to leave Qatar air base after Iran strike threats

Advisory follows Tehran's explicit warnings to regional hosts as Trump weighs military response to crackdown

By Layla Hassan

/ 14 Jan 2026

US personnel advised to leave Qatar air base after Iran strike threats

Trump tells Iranian protesters 'help is on the way' as regime intensifies crackdown

U.S. president's inflammatory social media post escalates Washington-Tehran confrontation amid unverified reports of thousands killed in nationwide unrest

By Viktor Petersen

/ 13 Jan 2026

Trump tells Iranian protesters 'help is on the way' as regime intensifies crackdown

Trump's Iran threat reveals the opportunism behind the humanitarian mask

Presidential bluster on Tehran's crackdown signals a rhetorical shift, not a strategic pivot—raising the risk of miscalculation on both sides

By Viktor Petersen

/ 2 Jan 2026

Trump's Iran threat reveals the opportunism behind the humanitarian mask

The Bazaar's Betrayal: Iran's Protests Signal a Foundational Crisis

As merchants who fueled the 1979 revolution abandon the Islamic Republic, regime's structural failures become impossible to ignore

By Layla Hassan

/ 31 Dec 2025

The Bazaar's Betrayal: Iran's Protests Signal a Foundational Crisis

UN declares aid delivery 'untenable' as Houthis detain 69 staff in Yemen

Latest arrests push humanitarian operations past breaking point, leaving millions at risk as securitized governance collides with aid principles

By Layla Hassan

/ 19 Dec 2025

UN declares aid delivery 'untenable' as Houthis detain 69 staff in Yemen

Trump's Oil Blockade: Can Sanctions Force Putin to Negotiate?

U.S. targets Rosneft and Lukoil in boldest sanctions yet. India and China hold the key to strangling Russia's war economy—or enabling its survival.

By Elena Kowalski

/ 23 Oct 2025

Trump's Oil Blockade: Can Sanctions Force Putin to Negotiate?