Opinion

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Wary of similar fate, Erdogan stands with Maduro
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Thomas Seibert
The Iraqi school year is one of the shortest in the world: students spend only 151 days in school each year — 29 days less than students in the countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization
What problems face Iraqi education?
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Mohamed Al-Rubeai
Another useless wall? Sudanese workers rest as they wait for Egyptian visas next to the Libyan-Egyptian border crossing in Musaid.
Scepticism abounds over Egypt-Libya border wall
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Ahmed Megahid
Breaking isolation? Syrian President Bashar Assad (L) receiving Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir at Damascus Airport, December 16
Time for the West to embrace Assad again?
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Stephen Starr
Elliott Broidy
New US lawsuit accuses Qatari lobbyists of using hacked e-mail in smear campaign
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Thomas Frank
New escalation. People stand next to metal sculptures at Mount Bental, an observation post in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israel, Iran edge closer to wider confrontation in Syria
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Mamoon Alabbasi
Clipped wings. An Airbus A340-300 of Mahan Air is seen at Dusseldorf International Airport in Gemany, January 16.
Pressure on Iran grows as Europe gets tougher and oil exports fall
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Thomas Seibert
US presidents commonly reward political donors with ambassadorships to smaller, friendly Western countries.
Trump moves to fill diplomatic void in MENA
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Thomas Frank
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend Russia-Turkey talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, January 23
Putin wants Erdogan to yield right of way to Damascus
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Yavuz Baydar
We don’t win [wars] anymore,” said candidate Donald Trump in 2016
The U.S. military's lost wars
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William J. Astore
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu attends the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, in Jerusalem November 19, 2018
Why Israel is pushing for a reset in relations with the Muslim world
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Rashmee Roshan Lall
Mourners transport the flag-draped coffin of Iraqi archaeologist, Lamia al-Gailani, seen in the poster, for burial during her funeral procession in the National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 21, 2019
Iraq’s archaeological sites face looting, urbanisation threats
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Karen Dabrowska
Overwhelmingly ceremonial. Flags of the Arab League members on display ahead of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Beirut, January 17.
Is it still possible to save the Arab League?
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Iman Zayat
A Muslim woman holds posters as she protests against ‘hate and islamophobia’ in Brussels, last September 9
Misinterpreting Islam in the West
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Francis Ghiles
A shift in direction. A Syrian soldier stands at a checkpoint as a Russian military police vehicle passes by near the village of Almajdiyeh, last August.
The new game Russia, China play
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Claude Salhani
Popular Mobilization Forces parade in Basra
The Iranian-American Upcoming Confrontation in Iraq
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Diyari Salih
In the Jan 20 phone call, Erdogan told Trump that Turkey was “ready to take over the security” in Manbij “without losing time.”
Turkey claims Syria role as militants target US forces in second attack in days
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Thomas Seibert
Engine of growth. Saudi and foreign investors stand in front of the logo of Aramco in Riyadh
Saudi Aramco IPO still on the table
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Jareer Elass
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, last September.
What safe zone? Turkey’s margin to manoeuvre in Syria shrinks
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Yavuz Baydar
Unambiguous message. Former Iranian Labour Minister Ali Rabiee.
1979 again? Spectre of unrest hangs over Iran
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Ali Alfoneh
Limited margin for manoeuvre. Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi (C) in Baghdad.
Iraq’s ministerial roulette grinds on as do fears of Iranian influence
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Nazli Tarzi
Empty rhetoric. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media at the parliament in Ankara, January 8.
Turkey-PKK grand bargain is a pipe dream
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Yavuz Baydar
Slighted. US national security adviser John Bolton (L) speaks to Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin (R) following their meeting in Ankara, January 8
Is Trump’s America a force for good in the Middle East?
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Ali Alfoneh
A Syrian flag flies in a rubble strewn street at the entrance of the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Damascus
What will Syria look like in 2019?
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Stephen Starr
New dynamics. Saudi entrepreneur Manar Alomayri poses at the Digital Media Services tent as a part of the Step 2017 Conference and Music in Dubai
Celebrating the Arabic language in the digital age
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Khadija Hamouchi
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech during a meeting with navy commanders and officers in Tehran, November 28. (Office of Iran’s Supreme Leader)
Empty rhetoric will not save Iran
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Ibrahim al-Zoubeidi
PMF is looking for passing a parliamentary proposal calling for the withdrawal of the American troops from Iraq
Troubled relations between the US and Iraq's PMF
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Diyari Salih
White House communications director Bill Shine (L), White House Chief of Staff John Kelly (C), and Senior Advisor Jared Kushner in the Oval Office of the White House, December 11
The future of Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’
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Mark Habeeb
Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Doha, last November
Qatari ties to Iran, Turkey undermine regional security
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Iman Zayat
Police officers detain a Turkish man during protests in Istanbul, last May
Turkey’s free society is disappearing into a sarcophagus
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Yavuz Baydar