With the conflict ignited by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel still ablaze, it is difficult to predict what decisions the players will make tomorrow—let alone in a week or a month. That makes it challenging for other nations impacted by the conflict to craft their foreign policy. What we can know in these
Following months of mostly defensive warfare, Russian forces recently resumed large-scale offensive operations in eastern Ukraine. However, after more than two weeks of intense fighting around the heavily fortified Ukrainian-held town of Avdiivka, Putin’s army has achieved only limited advances while suffering very significant losses in both men and equipment. This stuttering campaign is sparking
The Russian authorities detained Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on October 18 for failing to register as a foreign agent. Kurmasheva holds both US and Russian citizenship, making her the second American journalist to be arrested in Russia so far this year. Kurmasheva’s detention comes following the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter
More than two weeks after Hamas’s brutal October 7 attack, Israel continues to mass troops at the border with Gaza in preparation for a seemingly imminent ground invasion of the enclave. Meanwhile, escalating clashes between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanese border, as well as rising violence in the West Bank have
Just a few weeks ago, it finally seemed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had played a winning card after a few difficult months since the inauguration of his sixth government. In the wake of being shunned by the Joe Biden administration and having visits to Arab capitals indefinitely delayed, Netanyahu hoped to secure a grand
Militant group Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel threatens to disrupt more than normalizing relations with Israel. Before the attack, the Middle East and North Africa were on a slow path to stabilization. Arab states and Israel were beginning to settle their differences, Saudi Arabia and Iran had established relations, and the Yemen conflict was
“We are facing an inflection point in history.” On Thursday evening, US President Joe Biden spoke to Americans from the Oval Office—in only the second such address of his presidency—to tie together the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine as part of a larger struggle for democracy and freedom. Biden made the case that US leadership
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine was on the verge of advancing historic electoral reforms. Long fought for, these reforms aimed to further ensure free and fair elections. The war has largely halted those efforts and has created new vulnerabilities for future elections. However, if Ukraine implements the right electoral reforms now, it can emerge from
