Middle East

Iran and Hezbollah don’t want a war with Israel

26 August 2024 11:38 pm

Hezbollah’s response to the killing of senior official Fuad Shukr, when it finally came, was a more minor event than…

Can anything stop a full-scale conflict in the Middle East?

10 August 2024 9:00 am

The fact that the Middle East stands on the brink of a catastrophic war can be explained by a scene…

Inside the new Arab-Israeli alliance

20 April 2024 9:00 am

As Jordanian fighter jets shot down Iranian drones heading for Israel on Saturday night, there were joyful cries of Allahu…

When righteous anger goes wrong

4 November 2023 9:00 am

From abroad I’ve returned to a country where, in language to which the word ‘shrill’ hardly does justice, fellow British…

What did Hamas think was going to happen?

4 November 2023 9:00 am

Much misfortune the woebegone couldn’t have seen coming: a raging fire in the house next door that spreads to yours.…

Sunak should acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

29 October 2022 2:45 am

When Liz Truss’s premiership came to an abrupt end, it appeared to spell doom for a historic policy shift raised…

Bush is leading us to tragedy (2002)

7 September 2022 5:00 pm

It’s 20 years since the clamour for the invasion of Iraq was at its loudest. Boris Johnson, The Spectator’s then…

Can Israelis trust the UN?

18 August 2022 1:46 am

You probably think you’ve heard every story there is to hear about people getting fired over their tweets. Well, here’s…

The West cannot do business with Iran

14 August 2022 4:41 am

Salman Rushdie’s would-be assassin might have been a lone wolf. He might have had no contact with military or intelligence…

Are the Abraham Accords working?

27 June 2022 11:25 pm

Two years ago, UAE citizens were barred from entering Israel. No longer. The inaugural Emirates flight touched down in Tel…

Why is Biden copying Obama's mistakes with Iran?

23 March 2022 6:00 pm

There was a picture taken today that says more than just a thousand words. The photograph was snapped in Sharm…

The West has to bite its lip for Saudi oil

16 March 2022 10:11 pm

It would be ridiculous to claim that Boris Johnson’s visit to Saudi Arabia is not morally problematic. He is going…

Can Boris get the Saudis to pump more oil?

12 March 2022 2:30 am

The oil price is up by more than 40 per cent since the start of the year. It is being…

Why would the Saudis bail out Biden?

10 March 2022 4:47 am

Is Saudi Arabia shunning Washington? Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly been refusing to phone Joe Biden, who wants the kingdom to…

How did US intelligence get Afghanistan so wrong?

19 August 2021 7:51 am

It may well go down as the understatement of the year. In a quite extraordinary address to the nation after…

Who cares what Ben & Jerry’s think about Israel-Palestine?

20 July 2021 11:44 pm

When you think of the Israel-Palestine conflict, ice cream doesn’t usually come up. But that may be about to change.…

The Afghan withdrawal will only embolden the West’s enemies

13 July 2021 8:39 am

‘How many thousands more Americans, daughters and sons, were you willing to risk?’ Biden asked critics of the decision to…

How China won over the Middle East

12 June 2021 9:00 am

How China won over the Middle East

Is the worst yet to come in the Middle East?

22 May 2021 9:00 am

If Iran steps in, the worst is still to come

The strange tale of NEOM: Saudi Arabia’s struggling desert megacity

24 April 2021 4:30 pm

Prince Mohammed bin Salman is desperate to shake Saudi Arabia’s addiction to oil. Its price has still not recovered from…

Al Qaeda and Iran’s dangerous partnership

17 January 2021 7:00 pm

What does the world’s foremost Shia power and the most notorious Sunni terror group have in common? Given that the…

The beauty and tragedy of Lebanon

19 December 2020 9:00 am

I was thinking about tragedy. Could one use the term ‘chronically tragic’? My first instinct is against. Tragedy is the…

nevertrumpers

The never-ending smugness of the NeverTrumpers

19 December 2020 3:32 am

In March 2016 as Donald Trump looked likely to be the Republican party’s nominee to run for president, more than 100 foreign…

Iran vs the rest: the Middle East has reached a tipping point

5 December 2020 9:00 am

The next six weeks will be crucial for the Middle East

Biden would be a fool to reverse Trump's foreign policy wins

24 November 2020 11:32 pm

‘We’re going to be back in the game,’ our presumptive and somewhat previous new president tells us. ‘It’s not America…