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  • United States

President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders establishing the  “Trump Gold Card” and introducing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas on September 19, 2025, in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik / AFP

Trump's steep H-1B visa fees will do more harm than good

The president has slapped a one-off six-figure fee on visa petitions for specialist occupations seeking to work in the US. This will have huge repercussions for both industries and countries.

Abdel-Rahman Ayas 28 September 2025
Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (C) reviews a military honour guard with Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on January 31, 2019. GREG BAKER / AFP

Pivot to China? Gulf states mull options after Doha strike

Israel's attack in Qatar erodes Gulf states' trust in the US and serves as a stark reminder that they cannot depend on American security guarantees

Xiaotong Yang 13 September 2025
Dela wa Monga, an artisanal miner, holds a cobalt stone at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo on October 12, 2022. Junior KANNAH / AFP

Ending wars in exchange for minerals: a new US model?

Three decades of fighting in eastern Congo involving Rwanda and others was supposed to have come to an end in June. Is US economic engagement the magic wand its wielder says it is?

Sergey Eledinov 06 September 2025
Elon Musk (R) has laid down the gauntlet to US President Donald Trump (L) with a new political party formed in response to their disagreement over Trump's tax and spending plans, which will add $3tn to the national debt. Dave Murray

Elon Musk’s new political party: grand plans and a tall task

America's political duopoly seems ironclad, having last been broken by Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Several have tried since, but none have succeeded. Can America's richest man break the mould?

Christopher Phillips 11 July 2025
Troops from the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) training SDF fighters in Syria's north-eastern Hasakah province on 7 September 2022. Delil Souleiman/AFP

Exit signs: America’s full withdrawal from Syria seems imminent

A flurry of decisions suggests that the end is nigh for US troops in Syria, and that this may come sooner than expected. In laying the foundations for withdrawal, Donald Trump wants 'out' by Christmas

Caroline Rose 07 June 2025

Lifting the veil on secret US-Assad talks

Al Majalla reveals the covert talks over several years between the representatives of a reluctant Syrian president and successive White House administrations hoping find a missing American.

Ibrahim Hamidi 21 May 2025
Russia's President Vladimir Putin greets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi prior to the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2025. Mikhail METZEL / AFP

As Trump visited the Gulf, Egypt was busy meeting with its new friends

These days, Cairo looks more to Beijing and Moscow than to Washington, a policy change with its roots in the toppling of Hosni Mubarak more than a decade ago.

Amr Emam 20 May 2025
A currency exchange shop in Moscow displays the Russian ruble to dollar exchange rate on November 27, 2024. AFP

Even if sanctions are eased, Russia's economy will be strained

While some indicators are positive, others are troubling. The arrival of Donald Trump in the White House has given the Kremlin a political boost, and lifting sanctions will help, but it is no panacea.

Nazareth Seferian 16 March 2025
Brian Stauffer

The effects of a Trump or Harris presidency on the Middle East

Donald Trump's previous administration offers clues as to how he would approach 2025-29, but Kamala Harris is more of an unknown quantity. Whoever wins, their policies would ripple through the region

Paul Salem 04 August 2024
US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a campaign event on July 27, 2024. Stephanie Scarbrough/Reuters

Can Kamala Harris win?

Joe Biden's vice-president has an extraordinary opportunity. But she also has a mountain to climb

The Economist 30 July 2024
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on 28 February 2025. Shutterstock
Politics

One year of Trump 2.0: the age of MAGA imperialism?

20 January 2026

From kidnapping Venezuela's president to proposing the annexation of Greenland, Trump appears to be the most 'imperialist' leader the US has had in decades

Christopher Phillips
Opinion

The battle for the state is reshaping regional alliances

18 January 2026

From Yemen and Syria to Sudan and Libya, there is a concerted effort to reassert state authority and thwart moves toward the proliferation of quasi-states and fragmentation

Ibrahim Hamidi
A man holds a Syrian flag as a group of civilians smash a statue of a Syrian Democratic Forces fighter in the city of Tabqa after the Syrian army took control of it, in Tabqa, Syria, on 18 January 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Politics

How the SDF's hand was twisted into Syria integration

19 January 2026

A decisive Syrian military campaign, coupled with diplomatic pressure from Türkiye, the US, and Israel, has forced the SDF into a far-reaching integration deal with Damascus

Omer Onhon
Gregori Saavedra
Politics

China’s grand strategy reaches a critical juncture

06 January 2026

This could be a decisive year for Beijing as long-running strategies collide with harsher geopolitical realities. The outcomes will shape global power balances well beyond 2026.

Shirley Ze Yu
Ali Shaath during a press interview with a local radio station.
 Reuters
Profiles

Ali Shaath: Gaza’s technocrat of reconstruction

17 January 2026

Responsibility for the enclave's reconstruction has been placed in the hands of an experienced civil engineer native to Gaza

Mohammed Najib

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OPINIONS

Why Syrian army gains against the SDF unnerve Israel

Michael Harari
Michael Harari

Gilbert Sinoué: the French novelist chasing Egypt's lost paradise

Dina Mandour
Dina Mandour

One year of Trump 2.0: the age of MAGA imperialism?

Christopher Phillips
Christopher Phillips

Sanctions make stabilising Iran's rial an uphill battle

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London
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