Middle East & North Africa

Killing Adolf Eichmann

Operation Finale isn’t technically about killing Holocaust logistician Adolf Eichmann but about Israel’s 1960 abduction of him from Argentina. But there’s no doubt among any of the involved parties, including Eichmann, that the ultimate goal is his execution.

The Coming Humanitarian Disaster in Idlib Syria
The Coming Humanitarian Disaster in Syria

Some in the US government have suggested that we should make a grand bargain with Russia over Syria that would let Assad stay as Moscow curbed Iran’s power in the country. But such a deal would lead to the mass exile or massacre of civilians stuck in the international community’s failed de-escalation zone of Idlib and cement Iran’s control over Syria.

Promise and Pluralism in Israel’s Nation-State Law
Promise and Pluralism in Israel’s Nation-State Law

The international community already decided almost 100 years ago that Israel can be the national home for the Jewish people while respecting non-Jews civil rights.

American Christian Witness and Turkey’s Hostage

Are American evangelicals right to support US sanctions against Turkey to release American missionary Andrew Brunson?

The Dueling Moralities of Middle Eastern Democracy
The Dueling Moralities of Middle Eastern Democracy

Should we support Middle Eastern majorities as they organize their states even when the results defy our notions of democracy? Or should we support Middle Eastern minorities—Christians, Jews, Yazidis, liberal Muslims—who stand in fear of tyrannous ochlocracy?

Iran’s Economic Troubles Gives US Diplomatic Tool - Iran Economy
Iran’s Economic Troubles Gives US Diplomatic Tool

Sanctions and corruption have stunted Iran’s economic growth, and reforms will be difficult because of entrenched interests. This gives American policymakers a crucial diplomatic tool.

Strange Bedfellows: Is the US Supporting al-Qaeda in Yemen?

The Arab coalition and the US find themselves in the awkward position of directly and indirectly supporting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula while they fight the Houthis in Yemen.

Abbas Salehi - Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (MCIG) - Censorship and Sanctions: Should the US Sanction Iran’s Minister of Culture?
Censorship and Sanctions: Should the US Sanction Iran’s Minister of Culture?

Since the 1980s, the MCIG has played a leading role in suppressing political and cultural speech that contradicts Tehran’s revolutionary creed. But while the Obama administration sanctioned the ministry in 2012 for engaging in censorship, its current leadership has escaped Washington’s attention. By sanctioning the ministry’s current head, Abbas Salehi, Washington can send the mullahs a message that their ideologically driven repression will carry a price.

Living Together: Jews, Christians, and the Nation-State Law

There is a need to scrutinize and criticize the new nation-state law, but it is unfortunate that several aspects of the Latin Patriarchate’s statement are simply unproductive and even inflammatory.