Middle East | Al Majalla

China Pivots to Middle East as Trump Downsizes US Role

As President Donald Trump eyes the exit in the Middle East, his critics have excoriated him for abdicating a strong U.S. role in the region and clearing a path for Russia’s dominance. Yet in their…

Alice Su and Nabih Bulos 19, Dec 2019

An Iraqi man walks on dry, cracked earth in the Chibayish marshes near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. (Getty)

Deluge and Drought: Water Challenges in the Middle East

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), climate change is an especially urgent issue, particularly as it has already triggered devastating weather events, including prolonged droughts, flash…

Yasmine El Geressi 01, Nov 2019

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad meets with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran in this handout released by SANA on February 25, 2019. (Reuters)

How Iran Exploited Wars in the Middle East to Spread its Influence

Iran is ascendant in the Middle East, having exploited opportunities arising from the wars in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen by actively supporting proxies to spread its influence in a…

Yasmine El Geressi 14, Jun 2019

US President Donald Trump holds up a map detailing territory losses by the Islamic State in Syria as he speaks following a tour of the Lima Army Tank Plant at Joint Systems Manufacturing in Lima, Ohio, March 20, 2019. (Getty)

Getting Real About Iran

U.S.Secretary of StateMike Pompeohas singled outIranas a uniquely dangerous regional actor that must be confronted for the sake of peace and stability in theMiddle East. In the last year alone, the…

Kian Tajbakhsh 29, Mar 2019

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Editor's Pick

A Palestinian child looks on as bodies of victims of Israeli overnight airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip lie on the ground in front of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia on March 20, 2025.

BASHAR TALEB / AFP

Culture & Social Affairs

In Gaza, a child's silent farewell to dead friend pierces the silence of the world

16 April 2025

Palestinian death is increasingly being seen through the lens of cold political calculations. The world's silence over Gaza's horrors has drowned out the desperate screams of its people.

Samer Abou Hawwach

Opinion

Iran is cornered, but is it ready to concede?

14 April 2025

Although Tehran should understand by now that its hand is weak, it remains to be seen whether it can give up its fantasy of empire. Talks in Oman will be telling.

Alia Mansour

The Tompkins Square Park riot in New York City on January 13, 1874, was a clash between the city's police department and thousands of unemployed workers during the economic depression following the Panic of 1873.

Alamy

Documents & Memoirs

The awful history of tariffs and depressions

17 April 2025

What the 19th century teaches us about what happens next

Scott Reynolds Nelson

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meeting with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) during the 4th edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF2025) in Antalya on April 11, 2025.

AFP

Politics

Syria’s neighbours want it to have security, but on their terms

16 April 2025

In Türkiye for talks and a conference, Syria's new president knows that there is much to do and many to satisfy if he is to rebuild his country. Amidst the smiles, those with agendas jostle.

Omer Onhon

Opinion

After two years of war in Sudan, the world can no longer plead ignorance

16 April 2025

With numbers so staggering and stories so harrowing, we can't say we don't know what's happening. More needs to be done to address what has become 'the world's largest displacement crisis'.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

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LATEST ISSUE

China Pivots to Middle East as Trump Downsizes US Role

Deluge and Drought: Water Challenges in the Middle East

How Iran Exploited Wars in the Middle East to Spread its Influence

Getting Real About Iran

In Gaza, a child's silent farewell to dead friend pierces the silence of the world

Iran is cornered, but is it ready to concede?

The awful history of tariffs and depressions

Syria’s neighbours want it to have security, but on their terms

After two years of war in Sudan, the world can no longer plead ignorance

OPINIONS

A ground offensive against the Houthis looks imminent

8th Brigade disbands: a blueprint for military consolidation?

Yolanda Guardi on the sophistication of Mu‘allaqat poetry

The price of Lebanon’s civil war is still being paid

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