Middle East & Africa

The Munich Security Conference ends with no new answers on how to end the war in Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of people are being held in secret detention sites.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia rivalry also matters for Trump’s plans to transform the region.

Repression alone cannot explain the vast protest gap between Moscow, Tehran, and Kyiv.

Decapitation strikes against the country are likely. An invasion is not.

Tehran is threatening to “regionalize the war” if Washington uses force.

Major fighting has ended, but irreconcilable positions will bedevil Trump’s peace plan.

A contested idea has seen many alleged deaths.

The delusion of invulnerability tempts leaders to take risks.

The two sides remain at odds over what will be discussed in Oman.

Until humanitarian conditions improve, Trump’s Board of Peace doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.

In an illiberal world, the Turkish opposition can no longer convince voters that democracy alone is a source of strength.

Venezuela offers a potential diplomatic model for Washington and Tehran.

How African nations fit into the Trump administration’s plans to combat China.

Mohammed Ibrahim is one of hundreds of Palestinian children who report physical abuse in Israeli detention.

Western sanctions helped kill Iranians’ earlier hopes of their country’s transformation from within.

Once sacrosanct, the enormous aid package is now in doubt.

Renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act would protect U.S. jobs and economic power.

The parties include some with a history of antisemitism.

How a runaway uranium convoy encapsulates the collapse of global rules.

Reconstruction efforts in the battered territory are better planned and organized than many realize.

A redrawing of maps in Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere might serve U.S. interests.

A brief history of how Saudi and Emirati grand strategies diverged.

Current trendlines point to more U.S. military engagement in the region, not less.

A franchising model has led to “inspired” rather than “directed” attacks.

African governments are increasingly putting the brakes on Washington-led health plans.

After defeat, Kurdish aspirations for autonomy remain.

Despite White House-brokered accords, the war in eastern Congo is getting worse.

In Gaza, it will legitimize Israeli land grabs and ethnic cleansing.

If Sudan’s civil war spreads to Ethiopia, it will be a humanitarian and strategic disaster.

The myth of a global south resisting U.S. hegemony melted away in Davos.

The competition between Abrahamic and Islamic coalitions is reshaping the region.

In its response to protests, the U.S. evokes repressive regimes around the world.

The next round could be bigger and uglier than last year’s 12-day war.

The politics of rebuilding in a city of memories.

Trump’s “Board of Peace” is neither an alternative to the U.N. nor a harmless vanity project but a threat to international cooperation.

The U.S. president followed up a concerning speech with a confusing announcement.

Economy Minister Nir Barkat: “We’ll do better business in places that want us.”

The Islamic Republic was built to withstand sustained unrest.

An infrastructure project between Afghanistan, Iran, and India gets caught in Trump’s crosshairs—again.

The Kremlin may be using Africans as suicide bombers in Ukraine, reports suggest.

Delcy Rodríguez is the latest spare politician to be thrust into a top job.

Washington can intervene militarily, but any regime change strategy needs to start in Iran itself.

Washington’s record of failed intervention offers an obvious lesson. Trump should heed it.

Beijing sees a supreme U.S. military—and draws lessons for gaming Washington.

The ambiguous meaning of Israel’s new yellow line.

How Reza Pahlavi went from teenaged exile to symbol of his country’s future.

A plunge in exchange rates triggered the huge protests.

Why Washington keeps encouraging foreign uprisings—and then walking away.

After killing thousands of protesters, Tehran has no reason to back down.

A long history shows what not to do when trying to encourage political change in a foreign land.

From Russia-Ukraine to the U.S. midterms, Trump faces a bumpier year at home and abroad.

Trump said the killing has stopped, but a lot is up in the air.

Believing that the clerical regime could be pragmatic was a mistake.

How Islamabad is capitalizing on the current geopolitical moment.

Moscow is providing the military equipment and internet technology that Tehran is deploying against protesters.

The Christmas attack did not target the Islamic State, observers say.

Many of those living under the rule of the M23 militia prefer to keep it that way.

Trump has threatened strikes in support of anti-regime protesters.

The Lebanese Armed Forces have made progress on disarmament—but Israel is thinking of finishing the job.

The White House’s aggressive posture is already pushing other countries to seek strength in numbers.

How the Islamic Republic’s repressive tactics stack up against regimes around the world.

Oman’s new(ish) sultan doesn’t do spectacle. He does spreadsheets. And it’s working.

Economic disaster has put vast crowds in Tehran’s streets.

The divide is forcing countries across the region to take sides.

The author of FP’s ‘10 Conflicts to Watch’ on a violent start to 2026.

The Lebanese Armed Forces have a unique opportunity to assert meaningful sovereignty over their country.

Tensions rise after the Sudanese military captures South Sudanese nationals in battle.

Iraq showed that removing a dictator isn’t the same thing as overcoming a dictatorship.

The world-minus-one moment.

U.S. allies and partners are taking steps toward a post-American nuclear order.

Allies fear that Washington is retreating from leadership at the worst possible time.

The center of gravity has moved toward regime change rather than reform.

Simmering conflicts require more attention than can be expected from a mercurial U.S. president.

These are the year’s biggest races, from Bangladesh to Brazil.

From a high-stakes election in Ethiopia to a brewing crisis in South Sudan.

Major wars, simmering hostilities, and accelerating instability from Washington.

The 30 biggest releases in foreign affairs, history, and political science.

A record number of conflicts are wreaking havoc worldwide.

Figures from Pope Francis to Dick Cheney left behind global legacies.

Readers kept track of Trump’s whirlwind foreign policy and upheaval in the global order.

FP columnists on how the world could handle the new Washington.

Where does this year’s cease-fire agreement leave Palestinians and Israelis?

International actors may be sounding the alarm, but that doesn’t equate to meaningful action.

The figures who shaped the way we thought about the world this year.

FP Live’s guests included Europe’s top diplomat and a Gen Z economic whisperer.

How Gen Z-led movements shaped 2025—and what comes next.

How the region responded to Trump—and more—in 2025.

Our favorite excerpts of 2025.

Here are the countries that have benefited the most—and least—from the U.S. president’s decision-making.

As the second Trump administration approaches the one-year mark, here’s who is influencing key policies. 

Our favorite books—and reviews—of 2025.

Scott Anderson’s “King of Kings” offers a timely picture of U.S. myopia and miscalculation in Tehran.

Iran’s most celebrated director asks what a world after the Islamic Republic might look like.

The foiled putsch placed the continent’s geopolitics under a magnifying glass.

Barring South Africa will fundamentally weaken the G20. Its members must push back.

The coming year will determine whether the territory’s recovery can break the region’s cycle of violence.

The WFP says that it is forced to reduce rations to “the absolute minimum for survival.”

Short-term waivers are a start, but Congress must act on the full repeal Syria needs to rebuild.

The agency will be empowered to issue hundreds of billions of dollars in new loans to foreign countries.