The Islamic Republic of Iran may be gloating* over the Hamas attack on Israel but it has entered a serious domestic crisis that threatens the regime’s long-term survival and that… Read more »
Volatility is likely to characterize the process by which Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s successor is chosen. It will be rather chaotic, with many spoilers and few sincere brokers, argues… Read more »
The coronavirus is leading Iranians to question the relationship between state and religion, putting the theocratic state in “an unusual and awkward position“, observers suggest. The Islamic Republic had to… Read more »
The political effects of the Covid-19 crisis are likely to be profound, Stanford political scientist Larry Diamond writes for the Atlantic Monthly: In the medium to long run, the… Read more »
Iran’s president warned Monday of threats to the Islamic Republic’s “democracy and national sovereignty,” after a body dominated by his ultra-conservative rivals disqualified thousands of candidates, weeks before elections, AFP… Read more »
Radical Islamist extremist violence is wracking the fragile state of Burkina Faso and spreading east, The Washington Post reports: Nearly 1,000 civilians were killed in 2019 by local militias and… Read more »
Around the world, democracies are getting weaker and elected politicians are becoming more unpopular. Are they serving the people—or themselves? The Economist asks (see below). The Crisis of Democracy and… Read more »
The Islamic State was dealt serious blows with the loss of its territorial caliphate in March 2019 and death of its leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, in October 2019, analyst… Read more »
Forced migration has reached unprecedented levels around the world. While unique migration crises’ geographic origins range from South America to the Middle East, each crisis shares a common root cause—the… Read more »
China’s advanced surveillance regime is taking root along the length of the Belt and Road—especially the Belt, the overland Eurasian routes that were the origin of the government’s ambitious investment… Read more »