NEED TO KNOW OMAN Loss and Change In early 2017, the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman invited Hassan Rouhani, the […]

NEED TO KNOW SYRIA Annals of Reconstruction Russian President Vladimir Putin recently floated the possibility of a meeting between Syrian President Bashar […]

NEED TO KNOW IRAQ Taking Advantage of a Crisis The Islamic State was sinking. Now, maybe not so much. A coalition of […]

NEED TO KNOW YEMEN The Setting for Peace Predictions had been optimistic for Yemen. “Violence in Yemen will likely subside in 2020, […]

NEED TO KNOW FRANCE Giving and Taking French President Emmanuel Macron’s move in late 2018 to increase fuel taxes to fight climate […]

NEED TO KNOW IRAQ Hostages The killing of Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani triggered a cascade of events that is upending the […]

NEED TO KNOW AFGHANISTAN The Fog of War Americans recently learned that their military has been less-than-truthful about Afghanistan. “U.S. officials failed […]

NEED TO KNOW LIBYA Indirect Diplomacy A new proxy war is escalating in Libya. Turkey is planning on sending troops to the […]

NEED TO KNOW IRAQI KURDISTAN Of Ironies and Tragedies Kurds in Iraq voted for independence by a landslide two years ago. Since […]

NEED TO KNOW PALESTINE Disillusioned in the Swamp After tense negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the political factions Fatah and Hamas, […]

NEED TO KNOW ALGERIA Of Eggs, Tomatoes and Ballots Protesters in Algeria are throwing tomatoes and eggs at politicians’ campaign headquarters ahead […]

NEED TO KNOW IRAQ Springing Anew In the years after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, critics said the US had […]

NEED TO KNOW WORLD Whack-a-Mole The Islamic State was thought to be at a low. The death last month of the extremist […]

NEED TO KNOW UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Glittering Skylines, Hedging Bets The glittering skylines of Dubai and Abu Dhabi highlight how the United […]

NEED TO KNOW TURKEY A Genie Is Out Russian troops in Syria recently moved to the country’s northeastern border with Turkey, occupying […]

NEED TO KNOW SYRIA Letting the Genie Out The Turkish-Syrian border is on fire, according to Kurdish officials who spoke to Reuters […]

NEED TO KNOW EGYPT Of Pharaohs and Tin Ears Egyptians are furious about corruption. Their rage stems from viral videos posted by […]

NEED TO KNOW TUNISIA Reset in Tunis If Nabil Karoui wins Tunisia’s runoff presidential election on Oct. 13, he might deliver his […]

NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL Counterclockwise Carousels It seemed like Benjamin Netanyahu was in trouble. The results of the Sept. 17 election in […]

NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL A Messy Do-Over Israeli President Reuven Rivlin delivered a rare rebuke of Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu in […]

NEED TO KNOW TUNISIA The Art of Listening The Tunisian presidential election is heating up. That’s important because voters are deciding more […]

NEED TO KNOW LEBANON Where to Start? The Daily Star, an English-language newspaper in Lebanon, recently ran an edition that contained no […]

NEED TO KNOW IRAQ & SYRIA Exponential Radicalization Thousands of displaced wives and children of the vanquished Islamic State now live in […]

NEED TO KNOW TURKEY Missile Diplomacy US-backed Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria are in retreat. As the BBC explained, the troops pulled […]