Al Majalla rolled out its August cover story titled Changing Baghdad’s locks: US pressure key to breaking Iran’s grip where we look at the various ways Washington has placed pressure on Baghdad to distance itself from its eastern neighbour, and why it looks to be working. For his part, Robert Ford explains why it might be harder for Iraq—unlike what happened with the fall of the Assad regime in Syria—to escape Iran’s grip and warns that any moves to disarm Iran-allied militias could stoke serious violence.

In Business, Mohamed Sharki looks at the winners and losers of Trump’s new tariff wave. In it, he says, “Countries under the most pressure include key BRICS members, but even some allies like Canada have been hit hard. Those in the 10% club seem to have gotten the best deal.” Who are they? Read the piece to find out. Meanwhile, Shakir Hussein explains why Trump’s new tariffs are set to test India’s geopolitical autonomy, as they come with serious geopolitical undertones—especially regarding India’s continued purchase of Russian oil and arms.

And Con Coughlin pens a piece titled Trump-Putin meeting gives Ukraine truce talks new lease of life. Set to take place this week— it will be the first face-to-face meeting between a sitting US and Russian president since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.

Switching gears, Houssam Itani opines on the heightened tension following the approval of a US-backed plan by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah. A key American figure involved in this push is Tom Barrack, Trump’s ambassador to Türkiye and envoy to Syria. Omer Onhon profiles the US businessman with Lebanese origins who has been having some critical conversations in regional capitals since April, from disarming Hezbollah to preventing another war with Israel. For his part, Michael Harari writes on the escalating tension between Israel and Türkiye over Syria and explains why the two regional heavyweights need to clarify their red lines there to avoid a miscalculation by either party.

And Hala Al-Naji takes a grim and detailed look at Israel’s use of starvation in Gaza, which she explains is not just a result of war but a culmination of systematic policy. “What began 18 years ago is coming to a head today: the intentional, purposeful denial of food as a biological weapon that kills a population slowly, after first breaking its will,” she says, adding “Hunger in Gaza is neither performance nor art—it is the real contraction of a child's stomach and the fading light in their eyes.”

And writing on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the US dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the former ambassador of Japan to Iraq, Futoshi Matsumoto, pens a piece to commemorate the tragedy that continues to offer lessons to the world decades later.

And last but not least, Shirley Ze Yu asks: Could China gatecrash the US-Gulf AI wedding? In her piece, she says, “America offers the technology and the know-how, while the Gulf brings the capital and the energy, but are the Gulf states putting all their AI eggs in the US basket?” Read her piece to find out.