Al Majalla offers political and economic analysis about how we got here and what the future may hold

The US is betting that a sustained blockade can force Iran to make concessions on Hormuz. Iran is betting that rising economic pressure from the strait's closure will force the US to blink first.

A bit of both. It enabled its rise as a regional power, then helped weaken it, and may now help prevent its complete defeat.

Both the government in Addis Ababa and armed Tigrayan independence fighters have their supporters, from as near as next door to as far away as Tel Aviv

After a decade of military dominance, Moscow is being forced to surrender its last strongholds in the country as Damascus reasserts control

Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection as prime minister would hasten the illiberal drift

Does the declaration recently signed in Riyadh indicate a gradual transition towards a regional security architecture that will assume responsibilities long borne by external naval powers?

Washington has a long record of fighting the wrong war for the wrong objective

Regional and global players have begun to realise that the threat posed by the Yemeni militant group requires comprehensive and decisive action

As Yemen's Houthi militants activate a new maritime front, Islamabad may be compelled to play a more proactive role in regional security