Cristian Pîrvulescu
The attack on Iran by Israel and the US can be seen as an attempt to force regime change. Yet, says Cristian Pîrvulescu, authoritarian regimes rarely collapse when leaders fall. Systems built around institutions often survive because they reproduce power through structures that organise coercion and coordinate elites Read more
Narges Qadirli
Following Israel’s 12-day air campaign in Iran in June 2025, casualty figures varied across media sources, official reports, and humanitarian organisations. Narges Qadirli examines how short urban air warfare exposes structural constraints in the recording, measurement, and verification of civilian harm across conflict datasets and casualty reporting systems Read more
Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal
The latest escalation of conflict in the Middle East reflects significant shifts in regional geopolitics. Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal explains how unfolding events carry serious global economic implications, as each actor pursues divergent goals Read more
Hossein Kermani
Hossein Kermani argues that the Islamic Republic’s staying power relies as much on fracturing its opposition as it does on repression. Here, he explains how depolarising rhetoric, institutional transparency, and durable organisation will sustain pressure, protect activists during crackdowns, and ensure the failure of the regime's divide-and-conquer tactics Read more
Serena Fraiese
On 23 November 2025, Birzeit University in the Palestinian West Bank halted all teaching to mourn one of its law students, killed by Israeli gunfire in a nearby village. The case, says Serena Fraiese, reveals how freedom crumbles in the world outside academe before it even reaches campus Read more
Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal
The Middle East is entering a phase of recalibration. As Gulf powers prioritise stability and de-escalation, says Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal, they are also positioning themselves to play a leading role in global AI, which is likely to have a profound influence on the regional geopolitical landscape Read more
Süleyman Güngör
Once seen as brothers in faith, Syrians are now at the centre of Türkiye's sharpest debate: return. Economic hardship, social fatigue, and Europe’s moral outsourcing have turned an act of solidarity into a question of justice, identity, and survival. Süleyman Güngör brings this human dilemma to the forefront — where Realpolitik, economics, security, and morality collide Read more
Serena Fraiese
Penelope, wife of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey, who spent twenty years weaving and unweaving a shroud to delay remarriage and preserve her household, has come to symbolise fidelity, cunning, and endurance. Serena Fraiese argues that her story reveals characteristics that have become central to diplomacy in an age of uncertainty Read more
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