Week in Review - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Week in Review

Demonstrators carry Lebanese flags during an anti-government protest in the mainly Druze town of Hasbaya, Lebanon October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RC1D8675FAA0

How Lebanon is setting the standard for a new social contract in the Middle East

Week in Review

A member of Iraqi federal police stands guard in a street in Baghdad, Iraq October 7, 2019. REUTERS/Wissm al-Okili - RC160EF8FEE0

Iraq on low boil in anticipation of renewed protests

Week in Review

21 September 2019, Egypt, Cairo: Protesters shout slogans during a rare anti-government protest in Downtown Cairo. (Best quality available) Photo: Oliver Weiken/dpa (Photo by Oliver Weiken/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Why Egypt’s economic reforms aren’t enough to win over the street

Week in Review

Demonstrators gather at a protest during a curfew, two days after the nationwide anti-government protests turned violent, in Baghdad, Iraq October 3, 2019. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani - RC17F2432F10

Iraqi youth to government: We’re not going to take it

Week in Review

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Damascus, Syria in this handout released by SANA on September 23, 2019. SANA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. - RC1563B6A370

UN Syria envoy opens door to resolving 8½-year war

Week in Review

Iraq's President Barham Salih gestures during a news conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (not pictured) at Salam Palace in Baghdad, Iraq March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani - RC168FC63C00

Two to watch at the UN General Assembly: Turkey’s Erdogan and Iraq’s Salih

Week in Review

Iran sends a powerful signal to counter Iraqi nationalist trend

Week in Review

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speak during their meeting on the sidelines of the MAKS-2019 International Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky outside Moscow, Russia, August 27, 2019. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via REUTERS - RC147D99BA60

Putin can’t save Erdogan from Idlib quagmire

Week in Review

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump during a joint press conference at the end of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, August 26, 2019. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer - RC128C49AAC0

Rouhani says he doesn’t want photo-op with Trump — but maybe he should

Week in Review

Members of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) stand guard at Popular Mobilization Forces Media Center in Baghdad, Iraq July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily - RC11A11145C0

US influence on the line if Israel has 'free hand' to bomb Iraq

Week in Review

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson conducts flight operations while underway in the Arabian Gulf in this U.S. Navy handout photo dated April 4, 2011. He may have been America's enemy number one, but after U.S. forces killed him in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was afforded Islamic religious rites by the U.S. military as part of his surprise at-sea burial on Monday. The body was transported to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which brought him to his final resting place somewhere in the north

Putin’s Gulf security plan depends on Trump

Week in Review

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during the U.N. General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC1EB24996A0

Why Egypt matters — maybe more than ever

Week in Review