Reuters on Wednesday conveyed statements from the UK-based Observatory for Human Rights assessing – per the outlet – that ‘more Syrians have been killed in the three weeks since peace talks began than at any other time in the civil war,’ amid an ongoing offensive that has seen Hezbollah-backed Syrian troops consolidating control...

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday announced that Ankara will refuse to normalize relations with Israel until Jerusalem lifts its blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, raising fears that the Turkish leader was backsliding on commitments made to President Barack Obama in the context of a U.S-backed effort to achieve rapprochement between Turkey...

Controversy swirled yesterday regarding the Obama administration’s decision to withhold from the public the text describing how the interim Joint Plan of Action (JPA) with Iran is to be implemented, with the Washington Free Beacon publishing multiple articles on the issue and a leading House lawmaker calling on the White House to...

The New York Times on Tuesday described the festive mood at celebrations held today in Tehran to mark the 35th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, reporting that “clowns explained to children the importance of brushing their teeth,” “parachutists dropped candy into the crowds,” and attendees were led in chants of “Death to America,”...

Israeli officials today announced that the Jewish state had gained membership in two international organizations, one focused on democratic norms and the other emphasizing trade liberalization, with the country’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, shooting down reports of the Jewish state’s international isolation: “Next time you hear reports of diplomatic isolation...

A series of recent reports and developments have refocused attention on links between weak Palestinian institutions and endemic Palestinian corruption, underlining decades-old worries that internal structural barriers that may hamper the creation of a viable Palestinian state. Analysts have long called attention to at least four fundamental dynamics that risk rendering any Palestinian state...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared on Tuesday that Iran would continue bolstering its atomic program “forever,” the latest in a string of intransigent statements from top Iranian officials that had already weeks ago been labeled a diplomatic “train wreck” by CNN host Fareed Zakaria. Rouhani’s boasts came a few days after Iranian Supreme...

The Pacific Alliance is a bloc of five Latin American member states – Costa Rica just joined the initial four members of Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico – designed to promote economic growth specifically by focusing on trade liberalization. Geopolitically, it sits opposite another South American bloc – the “Common...

Much has been made in recent weeks regarding efforts to academically boycott Israeli institutions. Two particular campaigns – those mobilized by the American Studies Association and Modern Language Association – have received particular attention. The ASA passed a pro-boycott resolution and was forced to almost immediately scramble to backtrack, though...

The Associated Press reported yesterday that renewed peace talks between Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime and opposition groups stumbled almost as soon as they began on Monday, with each side blaming the other for a spate of violence that has seen hundreds killed in just the last few days. Both Damascus and extremist...