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Peruvian writer and Nobel literature prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa poses for a photograph during a ceremony of his induction into the Academie Francaise (French Academy), in Paris, February 9, 2023.

Why Peruvian Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa is interested in thinking, not trending

Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa writes a regular column in Asharq Al-Awsat. Peru's great man of letters is more interested in shedding light on the human condition than trending on social media.

Ibrahim Haj Abdi 17 July 2023

Visitors stand in front of a giant screen displaying Chinese President Xi Jinping next to a flag of the Communist Party of China, at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing, China October 8, 2022.

Reuters

Should the US be wary of Chinese military power in the Middle East?

China has neither the willingness nor the ability anytime soon to substantially project military power into the Middle East. To continue to meet its ends in the Middle East, Beijing may not need to.

Bilal Y. Saab and Melissa Horvath 14 June 2023

General view during the European Foreign ministers council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 20 February 2023. Foreign ministers will mainly discuss one year conflict in Ukraine and fifth package of sanctions against Iran.

EPA

Is Britain a spent force in the Middle East?

The fall out of Brexit at home, a lessening of western power and the diminishing importance of the Middle East to London and its western allies has seen the UK step back from the region

Christopher Phillips 24 February 2023

The US is eager to rid itself of the burden of bearing the main responsibility of ensuring the security and stability of the Middle East.

Andrei Cojacaru

Biden’s security strategy reflects waning US interest in the Middle East

The US is eager to rid itself of the burden of bearing the main responsibility of ensuring the security and stability of the Middle East

Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy 05 February 2023

Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attend an IRGC ground forces military drill in the Aras area, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, October 17, 2022. IRGC/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

UK to Proscribe IRGC as a Terrorist Organisation

An announcement is expected within weeks that the British government is going to officially declare Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation. The move is said to be…

Suzan Quitaz 13 January 2023

What Awaits the Middle East in 2023?

Individually and collectively, the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have experienced a slew of concerns in 2022 as the world has shifted under the weight of superpower conflicts…

Dalia Ziada 30 December 2022

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Preview - Doha, Qatar - November 13, 2022 General view of a replica World Cup trophy outside the Al Thumama Stadium REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo

World Cup 2022 Fixtures: Full Schedule of Games and Kick-Off Times

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar -- the first edition to be held in the Middle East and the second in Asia after Japan and South Korea hosted the 2002 tournament -- begins on Nov. 20 with the home side…

15 November 2022

FILE - In this file photo released by the U.S. Navy, a Saildrone Explorer unmanned sea drone sails in the Gulf of Aqaba on Feb. 9, 2022. The U.S. Navy held a joint drone drill with the United Kingdom on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, in the Persian Gulf, testing the same unmanned surveillance ships called Saildrone Explorers that Iran twice has seized in recent months in the Middle East. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dawson Roth/U.S. Navy via AP, File)

US, UK Hold Drone Drill in Persian Gulf After Iran Seizures

The U.S. Navy held a joint drone drill with the United Kingdom on Friday in the Persian Gulf, testing the same unmanned surveillance ships that Iran twice has seized in recent months in the Middle…

AP 07 October 2022

Saudi Arabia's newly designated Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman speaks during his meeting in the Ministry of Defence in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, September 27, 2022. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS

Saudi King Names Crown Prince MbS as Prime Minister

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz named Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdom's prime minister and Prince Khalid as defence minister, a royal decree showed on Tuesday. The…

28 September 2022

A combine harvests wheat in a field in the settlement of Vinodelnensky in the Stavropol region, Russia June 28, 2016. REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko

Sovecon Ups Forecast For Russia's 2022/23 Wheat Exports

The Russia-focused Sovecon consultancy said on Monday it had raised its forecast for Russia's wheat exports in the 2022/23 marketing season which started on July 1 by 200,000 tons to 43.1 million…

29 August 2022

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People shout slogans as they gather after a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war was announced, in Tehran, Iran, 8 April 2026.

Majid Asgaripour / Reuters

Politics

US-Iran ceasefire unlikely to hold

07 April 2026

If the ceasefire collapses, China has an interest in getting the two sides back to the table, but it would be a difficult task given Tehran's deep mistrust of the US and Israel.

Xiaotong Yang

Grace Russell

Politics

Gulf states should steer clear of attritional war traps

01 April 2026

The US-Israeli war against Iran aims to draw in Gulf states, but history has shown that entering wars is far easier than exiting them. Prudence is needed now more than ever.

Khairuldeen Al Makhzoomi

Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin speaks at a press conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 25 August, 2025.

Luka Dakskobler / Getty

Politics

'Israel is exploiting Iran war to kill a Palestinian state'

01 April 2026

PA Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin tells Al Majalla that Israel is taking advantage of the fact that the world is distracted by the US-Iran war to create irreversible facts on the ground

Ahmed Maher

People gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) at the Umayyad Square, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, 20 December, 2024.

Reuters / Ammar

Business & Economy

US-Iran war gives Syria's global economic pitch more urgency

01 April 2026

Given the effective closure of the Hormuz Strait and Houthi threats to close off the Red Sea, Syria may emerge as a corridor and conduit to bypass these embattled maritime chokepoints

Charles Lister

Reuters/ Al Majalla

Politics

Farid al-Madhan: Assad's fingerprints were on every picture

31 March 2026

A former army forensics employee who later became known as Caesar tells Al Majalla how he risked his life to expose the torture and killing of countless Syrians in regime prisons

Ibrahim Hamidi

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LATEST ISSUE

Middle East

Why Peruvian Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa is interested in thinking, not trending

Should the US be wary of Chinese military power in the Middle East?

Is Britain a spent force in the Middle East?

Biden’s security strategy reflects waning US interest in the Middle East

UK to Proscribe IRGC as a Terrorist Organisation

What Awaits the Middle East in 2023?

World Cup 2022 Fixtures: Full Schedule of Games and Kick-Off Times

US, UK Hold Drone Drill in Persian Gulf After Iran Seizures

Saudi King Names Crown Prince MbS as Prime Minister

Sovecon Ups Forecast For Russia's 2022/23 Wheat Exports

US-Iran ceasefire unlikely to hold

Gulf states should steer clear of attritional war traps

'Israel is exploiting Iran war to kill a Palestinian state'

US-Iran war gives Syria's global economic pitch more urgency

Farid al-Madhan: Assad's fingerprints were on every picture

OPINIONS

Arab wars in the shadow of the war on Iran

A too weak ceasefire?

US-Iran ceasefire unlikely to hold

A new look at Islam, integration, and secularism in France

Middle East

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