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Myriam Boulos / Magnum Lebanon’s January Hangover
People rushed home, checked on their loved ones, and waited. Will there be war?
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Ali Hashisho / Xinhua / Getty Hezbollah Watches and Waits
To understand the lull in Lebanon, look to Iran.
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Fatima Shbair / AP A Message From Iran
For Hamas and Iran, yesterday’s violence was a demonstration of newfound power.
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Photo-illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Anis Mili / … The Arab Spring Is in Its Death Spiral. Does the West Still Care?
Tunisia was the best case, Sudan the last hope, Syria the bloodiest of all: The countries that not long ago sparked optimism for a democratic wave in the Arab world have descended into dictatorship, and Washington shouldn’t ignore them.
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Anas Alkharboutli / Picture Alliance / Getty The Unbearable Plight of Syrians
After civil war and now a natural disaster, the country’s northwest desperately needs international aid, even if it’s hard to deliver.
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Getty; The Atlantic Why Saudi Arabia Is So Quiet About Iran’s Protests
The kingdom’s rulers may have managed their own social pressures better, but they’re wary of the tumult that’s shaking their neighbor.
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Fatemeh Bahrami / Anadolu Agency / Getty A Whole Generation Revolts Against the Iranian Regime
From Baghdad to Beirut, Tehran’s opponents are exploring the possibility that a wave of protests might help weaken Iran’s grip on their own countries.
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Ozan Kose / AFP / Getty; Guy Smallman … Biden’s Commitment to Press Freedom Faces a Test
How the president handles the killings of Jamal Khashoggi and Shireen Abu Akleh is a test of his ability to balance values and realpolitik.
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Moises Saman / Magnum What a Decade-Old Conflict Tells Us About Putin
One can trace a straight line from the overthrow of Libya’s dictator Muammar Gaddafi to today’s devastating war in Ukraine.
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Getty; The Atlantic Iran Feels Cornered by the Biden Administration
As nuclear talks resume, Iran is feeling both insecure and uncompromising—a dangerous combination.
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Diego Ibarra Sanchez / Getty What the Loss of Freedom Feels Like
In three distinct and different places, a similar sense of loss—of liberal values, of hope—is overwhelming.
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Fatemeh Bahrami / Anadolu Agency / Getty How America Can Win the Middle East
Beijing’s forays in the region present Washington with a test—and an opportunity.
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MOHAMMED ABED / AFP / Getty No One Is Coming to Help the Palestinians
The competition for influence between Iran and Saudi Arabia has for decades affected the prospects for peace.
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Getty / Mark Harris / The Atlantic ‘We Want a Nation’
A new generation of protesters has taken lessons from the Arab world’s failed uprisings of a decade prior.
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Matt McClain / The Washington Post / Getty The Moral Cost of Choosing Stability Over Justice
The events of January 6 illustrate the flaw in accommodating extremists in the name of stability.
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Alessandro Rizzi / laif / Redux America’s Future Might Be Lebanon
The Lebanese know that waiting for the end of something does not truly provide a fresh start, and certainly not a return to the way things were before.
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Alain Dejean / Getty The Muslim World’s Question: ‘What Happened to Us?’
Understanding the events of 1979 is crucial for those trying to figure out a better future for today’s Middle East.
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Associated Press Qassem Soleimani Haunted the Arab World
In much of the Middle East, and even in Iran, the military commander was feared, and his death has been greeted with elation.
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Osman Orsal / Reuters What Jamal Khashoggi’s Murder Tells Us About the Saudi-Iran Rivalry
The killing of the Saudi journalist a year ago is part of the larger context of the battle for dominance in the Middle East.
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Umit Bektas / Reuters Arab Women Are Tired of Talking About Just ‘Women’s Issues’
More and more female writers, journalists, and artists are offering an alternative to the typically male, often autocratic voice that dominates the Middle East.
