by James M. Dorsey Potential Qatari moves to become the first Gulf state to effectively abolish the region’s onerous kafala or labor sponsorship system, denounced as a form of modern slavery, could produce a rare World Cup that leaves a… Continue Reading
by Cinzia Bianco and Giorgio Cafiero From October 23-26, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi made his first trip to Paris since Emmanuel Macron won France’s presidential election. Along with Sisi’s interest in securing greater investment and economic support from France,… Continue Reading
by Paul R. Pillar In Iraq, as in Syria, the imminent extinguishing of the mini-state of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS or IS) is raising the question of whether U.S. objectives in Iraq really are focused on countering IS or… Continue Reading
by Derek Davison In addition to its ongoing campaign against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the United States has been instrumental in enabling Saudi Arabia’s effort to reinstall Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, whom rebels drove out of… Continue Reading
by Igor Torbakov The October Revolution of 1917 was not a singular event, but five years of violent political upheaval and social radicalization, culminating with the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922. It set the empire’s many peoples on… Continue Reading