Politics & Security - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

AFP via Getty Images

Car bomb in Syrian capital leaves 1 dead, 23 injured: What to know

Tuesday's bombing is the latest in a string of recent security incidents in Damascus.

NICOSIA, CYPRUS - APRIL 24: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for an informal meeting of European Union leaders on April 24, 2026 in Nicosia, Cyprus. The EU heads of state and government are meeting over two days to discuss the conflict in Iran and the Middle East, including freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the effects of high fuel prices, and how Europe may contribute to de-escalation and a peace agreement. (Photo by Byron Smith/Getty Images)

Syria's Sharaa renews ban on Israeli imports in customs law: What to know

The renewal comes even as Damascus pursues US-backed security talks with Israel aimed at reducing tensions along the border.

Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler (C) received Pakistan Air Force Commander General Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu (L) at his office, on May 19. 2026, in Ankara.

Pakistan’s air chief in Ankara as Islamabad touts regional alliance talks

The visit came after Pakistan’s defense chief suggested that talks were advancing on a wider defense arrangement involving Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.

Somaliland’s first ambassador to a foreign country formally, Mohamed Hagi, presented his diplomatic credentials in Jerusalem to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on May 18, 2026.

Somaliland's first ambassador to Israel announces embassy in Jerusalem: What to know

Israel was the first country to recognize the breakaway region on the Horn of Africa last year.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel pushes for full Iran blockade as it awaits Trump's next move

A bride and group couple rides in a military jeep arriving for a public mass wedding ceremony at Imam Hossein Square in Tehran on May 18, 2026. Iran said on May 18 that it had responded to a new US proposal aimed at ending the war, adding that diplomatic exchanges continue despite Iranian media reports describing Washington's demands as excessive. Washington and Tehran have been swapping proposals in an effort to end the conflict which the US and Israel launched on February 28, but they have held only a sin

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Analysis

Turkey looks to NATO summit for breakthrough on US F-35s acquisition

F-35s over Greenland

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

What we know about secret Israeli bases in Iraq

Men gather around the husk of a destroyed pickup truck that was driven by a local shepherd who was reportedly struck by Israeli forces and buried by locals at a grave nearby, in the Najaf desert in southwestern Iraq, on May 12, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Azerbaijani servicemen stand guard at a checkpoint at the Lachin corridor, the Armenian-populated breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region's only land link with Armenia, as Azerbaijani environmental activists protest what they claim is illegal mining, on December 26, 2022.

Israel exports arms to Azerbaijan as tensions soar with Armenia: Report

According to Haaretz, 92 cargo flights have departed since 2016 from the southern Israel airport of Ovda to Baku.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami (R).

IAEA Iran visit opens window to restart nuclear diplomacy

The nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency meets Tuesday, as an EU official says an agreement could be "positive” for Iran nuclear talks.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) is welcomed by US Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake as he arrives at Incirlik Air Base near Adana on February 19, 2023, for an official visit after a 7,8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey's south-east. - The death toll on February 18 rose to more than 44,000 from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria in the early hours of February 6, 2023. (Photo by CLODAGH KILCOYNE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey summons US ambassador over top general's Syria visit

Washington's top general Mark Milley met with senior American commanders, but not with Kurdish officials, US officials said.

Water bottles, knives and other objects are thrown on the pitch in the Bursa Timsah Arena in Turkey.

Anti-Kurdish racism stains soccer pitch in western Turkey

The attacks raised the specter of inter-communal violence ahead of watershed elections that are due to be held on May 14

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

US slaps visa sanction on Syrian military officer over Tadamon massacre

The State Department hit Amjad Yousef and his family with visa bans for his alleged involvement in the 2013 killing of 41 unarmed Syrian civilians.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu makes a press statement at his party's headquarters in Ankara, on September 16, 2020. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s opposition ends saga, names Kilicdaroglu as Erdogan challenger

Recovering from a major blow to its unity last week, Turkey’s leading opposition bloc has finally announced a joint candidate to run against Erdogan.

Passengers are seen at Moscow's Domodedovo airport, the day S7 Airlines canceled all its international flights due to sanctions imposed on Russia over the country's invasion of Ukraine, March 5, 2022.

Russia to add Gulf countries to visa-free travel list

Russia stated that it was preparing visa-free travel agreements with a total of 17 countries, which include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Syria.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s opposition attempts to close ranks, looks for consensus candidate

Turkey’s leading opposition bloc of six parties appears to have reunited with the Iyi Party's leader returning to the Table of Six.

https://www.isons.com/shop/fruit-trees/peach/bonfire-patio-peach-tree/

Family of US citizen killed in IRGC strikes sues Iran

Omar Mahmoudzadeh was killed this September in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in northern Iraq. His family's lawyer says the Biden administration downplayed his death.

Israeli military bulldozers demolish a house of a Palestinian family, built without the municipality's permission, in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Wadi al-Joz on March 6, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s Ben-Gvir orders Arab home demolitions in East Jerusalem during Ramadan

Despite warnings from security agencies of possible flare-up, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered the police to continue the demolition of homes in east Jerusalem, even during the month of Ramadan.

Shiite Muslim pilgrims gather to pray at the shrine of the 8th-century Imam Musa al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district, north of Baghdad, on February 17, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi TV series about Islamic history triggers Iraq’s sectarian divide

The Saudi-based MBC media group’s announcement that it would broadcast a TV series about a controversial figure in Islamic history, Mu'awiya bin Abi Sufyan, has faced strong backlash from Shiites in Iraq and the region.

US and Saudi tanks take part in the "Eager Lion" multinational military manuever, in the Al-Zarqa governorate, some 85km northeast of the Jordanian capital Amman, on September 14, 2022. (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

US, Saudi Arabia to conduct first counter-drone exercise without allies

As tensions heat up with Iran, the Pentagon hopes the Red Sands exercises will convince allies in the Middle East that Western counter-drone technology is still better than China's.