More: front
America’s Diesel-Ban Threat Shows Europe Is Paying for the Iran War
A Promise Meets a Midterm
On 22 September, Donald Trump said he might support a ban or quantitative limit on US diesel exports. Soon afterwards...
Dodik Lost Office but Kept Power. In Bosnia, Nobody Is Pushing Back
The Man Not on the Ballot
On Sunday, Željka Cvijanović of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the ruling Bosnian Serb party, defends the...
Xi’s Purge of the PLA Makes a Taiwan War Less Likely in 2027, but a Crisis Harder to Manage
Two Men at the Top, Two Ships in the Spratlys
Today China marks National Day with the smallest military high command in its modern history....
Gaza’s Peace Plan Needs Troops. Who Is Willing to Send Them?
A peace plan can be negotiated in conference rooms. Securing it requires someone willing to stand on the ground. Gaza's post-war framework has increasingly...
Bridging Washington and Beijing: Why the Middle East Needs a Sino-American Coordinator
My previous suggestion to both the American and Chinese sides—as an internationally renowned Egyptian expert on Chinese politics and the policies of the ruling...
Russia’s Next Escalation Is Designed to Be Blamed on Ukraine
A Scenario With a Script
Most intelligence assessments warn about capabilities. The one Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service published last week describes a script. It warns...
Qatar, Pakistan and Egypt Are the New Mediators, and None of Them Is Neutral
Seven Days, Again
On 23 September, in a meeting room at the United Nations, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, sat down with Steve Witkoff and...
The Red Line in the Gulf: What Trump’s Rejection of Iran’s Hormuz Plan Actually Tests
On September 26, Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House that he was rejecting a seven-day plan Iran had submitted to reopen the...
Switzerland Voted to Keep Neutrality Flexible. Its Role as a Mediator Has Already Moved On
A Landslide, and an Empty Resort
On Sunday, Swiss voters rejected the “Safeguard Swiss Neutrality” initiative by 70.2% to 29.8%. Not a single canton voted...
Xi Jinping’s US Visit: What It Means for Egypt, the Middle East and Red Sea Security
Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States in September 2026 will contribute to managing economic and geopolitical differences between the world's two...