The Iran war exposed the risks of being too closely tied to US military posture, which is why some Gulf states are repositioning themselves not merely as consumers of security but as architects of it
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad speaks to Al Majalla about Islamabad's diplomatic role in the talks between the US and Iran, its balancing act between Tehran and Riyadh and the Mecca Pact
Islamabad kept both sides talking even as missiles were being launched. That tenacity looks to have paid dividends in a way that could yet reshape the Middle East's power dynamics.
Since last May's brief yet dangerous military confrontation between two nuclear-armed powers, a tenuous calm has held. But should a new war erupt, the margin of error this time will be far slimmer.
With war closing the Strait of Hormuz, Islamabad has become both broker and bridge, mediating between rivals while keeping Beijing's overland trade routes alive
Al Majalla examines this changed landscape—from Israel's domestic political scene to its external ambitions, where it occupies large swathes of new territory in the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria
The leaders of Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, and Eritrea met in Alamein on Sunday, which some interpret as a formation of a loose security alliance aimed at influencing the geopolitics of the Horn of Africa
From Gaza to Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Jordan, Iraq, and Algeria, this year's Arab Oscar submissions explore stories of conflict, displacement, memory, and survival