Stephen M. Walt

Stephen M. Walt is a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations at Harvard University.

Why the United States keeps losing wars

If you are American, then you might be getting damn tired of losing wars. I know I am. And you may be asking yourself, “Why does this keep happening?…

08 August 2026

The Israel lobby’s responsibility for the Iran war

News flash: The war in Iran is not going as expected. I could say not going as “planned,” except that word seems completely inappropriate in this…

17 March 2026

The ‘Donroe Doctrine’ makes no sense

If you’re confused about the strategic justification for the Trump administration’s policies toward Venezuela—including the recent abduction of…

13 January 2026

Joe Biden’s final foreign-policy report card

I voted for US President Joe Biden in 2020, and as readers here know, I supported Vice President Kamala Harris last November despite my misgivings…

15 January 2025

America fuelled the fire in the Middle East

Iran’s decision to retaliate against an Israeli attack on its consulate in Damascus, Syria, by launching drone and missile strikes reveals just how…

01 May 2024

Editor's Pick

Lina Jaradat

Politics

Ahmed al-Sharaa: the next battle

20 August 2026

Balancing the competing interests of regional and global stakeholders is no easy task. Can the president keep Syria from becoming an arena for regional conflict?

Al Majalla - London

US political commentator Tucker Carlson speaks during the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 18 July 2024.

ANGELA WEISS / AFP

Profiles

Tucker Carlson: America’s right-wing insurgent-in-chief

12 August 2026

The former Fox News presenter, who now wields more influence over US politics than he did at the network from 2009-23, is now a vehement critic of Trump in recent months, in part over Israel

Kamal Alam

Al Majalla

Politics

Iran's new war cabinet is really an old one

15 August 2026

The appointments show how Tehran is drawing lessons from successive wars and preparing for a prolonged period of insecurity

Alex Vatanka

Sara Padovan

Business & Economy

Why cotton fibres could be key in the global arms race

13 August 2026

War is driving demand for munitions, and the fibres from cotton seeds are used to produce artillery shells. With only a few producers, demand is soaring.

Abdulfattah Khattab