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

Since 2012, the Week in Review keeps you ahead of the curve with in-depth analysis of the trends in the region, based on AL-MONITOR’s world class reporting.

Trump’s integration policies build on Gulf, Turkey ties and Syria success

By Andrew Parasiliti , Week in Review

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

Trump looms over Iranian presidential election

Ali Hashem reports from Tehran that relations with the United States may be a defining issue for next Iranian president.

An Iranian man reads a prayer over the coffins of late president Ebrahim Raisi (portrait top L) and late governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan Province Malik Rahmati (portrait top R) during a funeral ceremony at the Imam Reza shrine, in the city of Mashhad, on May 23, 2024.

Is Biden trying to undermine Netanyahu’s war cabinet from within?

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has exposed a fault line over day-after planning for the Gaza Strip.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 8: U.S. President Joe Biden accompanied by Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed (L) reacts to reporters shouted questions as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on May 8, 2024 in Washington, DC, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. Biden is traveling to Wisconsin and Illinois today for campaign events. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

For Biden, only cease-fire could quell Democrat dissent on Israel-Hamas war

Is Biden winning or losing showdown with Netanyahu over Gaza?

US President Joe Biden speaks after signing the foreign aid bill at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2024.

Despite crackdown, protesters ‘haven’t lost the plot' on Gaza war, says Columbia journalist

Al-Monitor’s coverage of the police action against Columbia demonstrators; Netanyahu’s Saudi temptation; Palestinian leaders chart statehood.

Pro-Palestinian supporters continue to demonstrate with a protest encampment on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City.

After Israel strike, time to reset diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear program

Al-Monitor’s coverage of the regional crisis from Iran, Israel, Syria, Washington and more.

Motorists drive their vehicles past a billboard depicting named Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading, "The honest [person's] promise" and in Persian, "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," in Valiasr Square in central Tehran on April 15, 2024.

Iran can’t win in response to Israeli killing of IRGC leaders

Also Al-Monitor must-read reporting from Syria, Israel, Gaza and Washington.

Emergency and security personnel gather at the site of strikes which hit a building next to the Iranian embassy in Syria's capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024.

Despite rift over Gaza, Biden and Netanyahu find common ground on Iran

US president has his "come to Jesus" moment with Bibi, but the threat from Iran may temper United States' conditioning arms assistance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on Sept. 27, 2023.

Biden-Netanyahu spat more play to electorates than showdown over Gaza

The dispute won't shake 'ironclad' US support for Israel.

Van Hollen: Israeli restrictions on Gaza aid 'not currently in compliance' with US policy

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said he is concerned about the US getting drawn into planning of Israeli military operation in Rafah.

US Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) questions Treasury Undersecretary For Domestic Finance Nellie Liang as she testifies before the Senate Banking Committee Feb. 15, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Netanyahu holds firm, for now, against Biden pressure

Flashback to Ronald Reagan’s ‘come to Jesus’ talk with Menachem Begin; our reporting from Jerusalem, Rafah, Ramallah, Amman and Washington.

US President Joe Biden meets with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2023.

Iran, misreading Trump’s resolve, escalates conflict in Yemen ahead of US midterms

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Trump links Iran to the war on terror, vowing it will “never, ever have a nuclear weapon.”

Supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi movement, arrive with their weapons to rally in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon, in Sanaa on April 8, 2026, following the announcement of a ceasefire in the Middle East war.

Barzani calls for enhanced air defense for Kurdistan Region to counter drone attacks

Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani backs US-led regional economic integration efforts and lauds US partnership in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor.

Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, gives a press conference in the autonomous region's capital Arbil on June 25, 2025.

Trump’s strategy on Iran may be paying off

Through far-sighted diplomacy and a durable new regional architecture, Trump has cornered Iran between alignment and atrophy.

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport on Aug. 2, 2026 in Morristown, New Jersey.

Iran-linked militias seek to draw Iraq into regional war

“Iran’s logic is the logic of war,” a Gulf regional official tells Al-Monitor.

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023.