Commentary

There has been a tremendous amount of press coverage devoted to the initiation earlier this week of Russian bombers flying missions over Syria from a base in Iran. But what exactly has changed? For the Syrians on the receiving end of these missions, the fact that Russian bombers are coming from Iran instead of farther-away...

In a highly dramatic development, Russian bombers have begun using an Iranian base for bombing missions over Syria. Why Moscow would want to do this is clear: flight time to Syria is much shorter from northwestern Iran than from southern Russia. This allows Russian bombers to carry less fuel and more bombs, which holds out...

The battle for Aleppo could be a turning point in Syria’s civil war — not simply because it may prove a decisive moment in the struggle between the government and the opposition, but because the leadership of the rebel forces is at stake.

Amal contacted me two years ago. She was 30 years old, a junior university professor, and she needed help. For four years her father had beaten her, locked her in her room, and threatened to stop her from working because she wanted to marry a non-Saudi professor. Now she wanted to explore a potential escape...

A Muslim American is the person “most responsible for keeping America safe since the Sept. 11 attacks,” wrote former CIA acting director Michael J Morell in the New York Times last week. Mr Morell was referring to “Roger”, an American convert to Islam (he cannot be identified because he still works for the agency) who...

From the days of antiquity, through to the middle of the twentieth century, economics was largely a deductive and narrative discipline. The leading contributions were dense treatises hundreds of pages in length, with scarcely a number or equation in sight. Economists influenced policymakers through the general principles that they espoused, such as David Ricardo’s opposition...

Much attention was generated by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir’s interview with politico.eu. The minister appeared to offer Russia an economic lifeline from Western sanctions through economic access to the Gulf Cooperation Council—the grouping of the six Arab Gulf monarchies, most of which have large oil reserves—and “a pool of investment that exceeds that of China.”

US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter hosted on Wednesday counterparts and senior military leaders from more than 30 nations at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C. to discuss the next steps in the fight against ISIS, including how the US-led coalition can liberate the Iraqi and Syrian cities of Mosul and Raqqa. NATO Secretary-General Jens...