Middle East

Hosein Mortada The United States doesn’t just export goods, services, or technology. Its most powerful export—the one that underpins everything else—is the United States dollar. That export is now facing a slow, strategic challenge. This is not a crisis that will unfold overnight, nor one defined by dramatic …

Nikolas K. Gvosdev The “world war” of the 18th century, with its shifting coalitions and proxy fronts, is more akin to the 21st century’s wars than the 20th century’s. At the close of the classic 1990 episode of The Simpsons, “Bart the General,” Bart Simpson solemnly intones that …

Peter Suciu Chinese research vessels have spent years studying the world’s seafloor for ostensibly civilian purposes—but have specifically done so in locations with high military significance. In October 2021, the United States Navy’s Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN-22) collided with an uncharted seamount in the South China …

Joshua Yaphe If the Gulf states want to help decide Iran’s post-war future, they will have to court the Trump administration and demonstrate their value yet again. The outcome of the war in Iran is still hard to predict, but some of the consequences for the Arab Gulf …

Dave McCormick Decisiveness, humility, and vigilance are needed if the United States is to prevail in the war with Iran. Editor’s Note: The following was adapted from Senator Dave McCormick’s (R-PA) remarks delivered before the Alexander Hamilton Society on March 11, 2026. It has been edited for style …

Justin Mitchell Both Moscow and Beijing stand to benefit from a prolonged war between the United States and Iran. Iran is isolated, fighting a war for its survival. Yet China and Russia, Iran’s supposed partners, are conspicuously absent. Both countries condemned the attacks on Iran and called for …

President Donald Trump insists that “productive” negotiations with Iran are underway. Senior Iranian officials, meanwhile, repeatedly deny that any such talks are taking place. One side may be misrepresenting reality, both may be shaping narratives, or the truth may lie somewhere more ambiguous than either account suggests. The …

For decades, the language used to describe the Middle East has been dominated by the vocabulary of conflict. We speak of proxy wars, failed states, sectarian fractures, and great powers orbiting a volatile geography. This framing is not entirely wrong—but it is incomplete. More importantly, it obscures as …

By Eng. Saleem Al-Batayneh There is a deeper anguish embedded in this title than in the reality it seeks to describe. It carries meanings and lessons that echo the tragic fate of the black ox in the old parable: “I was eaten the day the white ox was …