United States
Lines in the Sea
The maritime dispute between Israel and Lebanon has implications for the claims of other states and the energy industry’s perception of the region as a viable space for development. If Israel and Lebanon manage to work out their differences, others may follow suit.
What the CIA Did (and Didn’t Do) in Soviet-Occupied Afghanistan
Western leftists think the CIA created al Qaeda by helping the mujahideen shoot down Russian helicopters. They’re wrong. The CIA program to arm anti-Soviet Afghan mujahideen with Stinger missiles saved lives.
Why There’s Hope for Libya
Libya now has a unified national government that resulted from a peaceful transition of power and handover by the two rival governments. Two top U.N. envoys to Libya say they could have hardly imagined this development a year ago when they were serving in the United Nations.
America’s Middle East Allies Are Free Riders No More
We are witnessing an intense scramble for control of the Middle East among mostly autocratic, disparate regimes, creating new alignments where the fabulous wealth of small states is conjugated with countries boasting larger armies, with proxies and mercenaries as expendable cannon fodder in tow.
Brett McGurk: A Hero of Our Time
Every generation of American diplomats has a figure who becomes the face of the era in foreign policy, a Dean Acheson, Henry Kissinger, or Richard Holbrooke. The years of pain and sorrow otherwise known as the Forever Wars may have found their own symbol in Brett McGurk.
A Caliph Without a Caliphate: The Biography of ISIS’s New Leader
Documents and pictures, made public in English by Newlines for the first time, that indicate Qardash was in fact a leading figure among Iraqi jihadist groups over the past two decades who has steadily worked his way up the security and religious hierarchy within the Islamic State group.
After America: Inside the Taliban’s New Emirate
With just under five months to go until U.S. withdrawal, as Afghans brace for postwar uncertainty, an Afghan journalist visits the Taliban's new emirate in Helmand, the land the U.S. failed to tame.