Middle East & North Africa

A convoy of U.S. vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, on the outskirts of Dohuk, Iraq, October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ari Jalal TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC115088E3F0

How to salvage Syria and protect US troops

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Monday, November 18, 2019

Demonstrators march during a protest against the country's ruling elite and rejecting the December presidential election in Algiers, Algeria November 15, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina - RC2RBD9D4SPJ

Algerians have been protesting for months. What’s changed?

Monday, November 18, 2019

A general view of the trial is seen at a military court in Tunis July 19, 2012. Former Interior Minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem was sentenced to 15 years in jail and Ben Ali's security chief Ali Seriati was given 20 years over the killing of protesters in the capital Tunis and the towns of Sousse, Nabeul, Bizerte and Zaghouan as a popular uprising spread through the country early last year. Ben Ali fled with his family to Saudi Arabia. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi (TUNISIA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - GM1E87J1QML01

Reforming Tunisia’s military courts

Hamza Mighri and Sharan Grewal

Thursday, November 7, 2019

A smoke cloud rises moments after an air strike on the compound of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the Idlib region of Syria in a still image from video October 26, 2019. Video picture taken October 26, 2019. U.S. Department of Defense/Handout via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC179130A4B0

What we can learn about US intelligence from the Baghdadi raid

Eyal Tsir Cohen and Eliora Katz

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

People walk on the street, where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his caliphate back in 2014, in the old city of Mosul, Iraq, October 27, 2019. REUTERS/Abdullah Rashid - RC1468923010

Worried about an Islamic State comeback? Here’s why that’s unlikely.

Daniel L. Byman

Monday, November 4, 2019

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah reads his opening speech at the start of the 4th ordinary session of the 15th Legislative Parliament in Kuwait city, Kuwait, October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Stephanie McGehee - RC137B700E80

GCC News Roundup: UAE hands control of Aden over to Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia signs investment agreements worth $15 billion (October 1-31)

Monday, November 4, 2019

Demonstrators wave Lebanese flags as the pass by Lebanese soldiers during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, October 31, 2019. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic - RC116FDD2CA0

With Lebanon making fragile progress, now is the wrong time to pull US assistance

Jeffrey Feltman

Friday, November 1, 2019

Smoke raises behind an Islamic State flag after Iraqi security forces and Shiite fighters took control of Saadiya in Diyala province from Islamist State militants, November 24, 2014. Iraqi forces said on Sunday they retook two towns north of Baghdad from Islamic State fighters, driving them from strongholds they had held for months and clearing a main road from the capital to Iran. There was no independent confirmation that the army, Shi'ite militia and Kurdish peshmerga forces had completely retaken Jalawla and Saadiya, about 115 km (70 miles) northeast of Baghdad. Many residents fled the violence long ago. At least 23 peshmerga and militia fighters were killed and dozens were wounded in Sunday's fighting, medical and army sources said. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - GM1EABP0BT301

What America never understood about ISIS

Friday, November 1, 2019

American soldier reads a newspaper in the shade under a U.S. Marine tank in Beirut, Lebanon. / Library of Congress

Beirut 1958: America’s origin story in the Middle East

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi listens asRussian President Vladimir Putin makes a statement for media following the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, 24 October, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS - RC1E4E8D6FC0

Africa in the news: Russia-Africa summit, Botswana’s election, and Africa’s new growth projections

Saturday, October 26, 2019