Institution building

This image was taken in January 2016 in Hara Marine Forests (Mangrove Jungle) in Qeshm Island.

Azerbaijan detains Iranian boat for alleged drug smuggling

The incident has added to tense ties between Iran and Azerbaijan, in part due to the Baku’s ties to Israel and Tehran's support to Armenia.

Azerbaijan's Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov meets with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Mehrabian in Tehran on March 15, 2024.

Iran-Azerbaijan ties still off track despite diplomatic gestures

Azerbaijan's energy minister visited Tehran for preparations to reopen his country's embassy, but such hot-button issues as the Nakhchivan corridor and Azerbaijan's affinity with Israel appeared as stumbling blocks on the path to effective normalization.

Shiite Muslims protest near the local headquarters of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority on July 20, 2003, in Najaf, Iraq.

Analysis

20 years after US invasion of Iraq, what lessons remain?

With the Pentagon now refocusing elsewhere, and with Iran getting closer to nuclear weapons by the day, the widening post-Iraq American boots-on-the-ground Middle East vacuum is cautiously being challenged by China.

Gilles Kepel

By Gilles Kepel

Ambassador of Israel to Korea Akiva Tor.

Israel announces metaverse embassy in South Korea

The UAE also recently launched offices in the digital world.

Latest News

Six years later, Egypt begins transfer to new capital

Egypt capital

Coup fears grow as Tunisian president shores up power

Tunisia protest

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Egypt boots public servants from railways over Brotherhood links

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

Syrian jihadist group expands control in areas outside Idlib

Syrian potato farmers prepare the root vegetables for planting near the town of Binnish, northwestern Idlib province, Syria, Jan. 12, 2021.

Iraq faces more chaos as PM-designate fails to form government

Iraq's prime minister-designate failed to form a government, meaning the country will most certainly witness more chaos.

Iraq's PM designate mired in Cabinet dilemma

Iraq's Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi is unable to form a Cabinet accepted by Iraqi protesters and political parties.

PMU factions set conditions for next Iraqi prime minister

Some pro-Iran factions of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units are demanding that candidates for prime minister meet their standards.

Gaza men choose family councils but keep women out

There have been no elections in Gaza since 2006, but family groupings in the enclave have started holding votes for a leader and board to administer family affairs.

Iraq’s sidelined Sunnis weigh options amid US-Iran conflict

Iraq’s Sunni politicians, who are facing great challenges in managing areas still recovering from the damage caused by the Islamic State, worry that Iran-US tensions will have an added negative effect.

Erdogan's ties with Turkish army gets alarmingly personal

The extraordinary personalization of Turkey’s civilian-military relations is deinstitutionalizing the Turkish military structure and causing internal power struggles within the army ranks.

Egyptian political party leaders react to Sisi’s merger proposal

As Egypt prepares for parliamentary elections in November, political party representatives examine what's needed to implement the president's advice to consolidate the country's more than 100 parties.

Road direction signs are pictured at the entrance enroute to Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib, Syria August 24, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC18F81DAAE0

Reshuffle of HTS-linked government fails to bring hope in Idlib

It appears that the new cabinet of an Idlib-based opposition government connected to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham will not earn the trust of the public, which continues to suffer under tough economic and humanitarian conditions.

Police check the IDs of suspected prostitutes in Tel Aviv. (Photo by Antoine GYORI/Sygma via Getty Images)

Sex workers fall victim to Israeli government paralysis

Due to the paralysis of successive transitional governments in Israel, millions of shekels allocated to the Welfare Ministry to help sex workers get out of the business have gone unused and might therefore be returned to the Finance Ministry.

Members of the Parliament of the Kurdistan region vote on the ministerial list of the Kurdistan Regional Government headed by Masrour Barzani in Erbil, Iraq July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RC1EA4570DE0

What is the fate of Baghdad-Erbil’s oil-for-budget agreement amid ongoing protests?

Iraqi political sides vow to block a recent oil-for-budget agreement by Iraq’s caretaker government with the Kurdistan region.

Sisi favors security appointees for Egypt's governorships

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's decision to appoint security personnel as new governors is quietly controversial.

An Iraqi female demonstrator waves an Iraqi flag during an ongoing anti-government protest, in Baghdad, Iraq November 1, 2019. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah - RC164BCA0C20

Iran not letting Iraq go without a fight

Iraqi protesters have had enough of Iran’s heavy hand, but don’t expect the Iranians to pack up and go home.