In Search of a Story for Syria
With the recent reincorporation of northeastern Syria under central rule, the existential risk of national dissolution that Syrians feared seems to have passed. But stitching up the bonds between communities will be a longer and more difficult task than defeating separatist militias.
Nigeria’s Coastal Heritage Is Being Swept Out to Sea
Once a thriving Christian commune, the small Atlantic village of Ayetoro is being rapidly eroded by rising tides. After successive government sea walls failed, residents have taken the battle against the encroaching ocean into their own hands.
Why Iran Doesn’t Need a Navy To Threaten Global Energy
The IRGC's strategy in the Strait of Hormuz isn't about naval power, it's about exploiting geography. By selectively allowing some vessels to pass while raising the commercial risk for others, Iran is turning the world's most critical energy choke point into a tool of coercive leverage.
The Iran War Is What ‘America First’ Actually Looks Like
Segments of the MAGA base, the Western left, Global South solidarity networks and the Iranian regime itself have converged, improbably, on the same talking point: This is not America First. They are all wrong. The Iran war is actually the purest expression of America First, its direct consequence.
An Anguished Debate Among Iranians
The war has occasioned an anguished debate among Iranians. The division that has emerged — between those who will not support a war on their own country and those who have, through suffering and desperation, arrived at support for the war — is real and painful and will not be resolved easily.