The Autumn of the Ayatollahs

For the first time in nearly four decades, Iran is on the cusp of a change of leadership—and maybe even of regime. As Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s reign nears its end, a 12-day war in June laid bare the fragility of the system he built. Israel battered Iranian cities and military installations, paving the way for the United States to drop 14 bunker-busting bombs on Iranian nuclear sites. The war exposed the enormous gulf between Tehran’s ideological bluster and the limited capabilities of a regime that has lost much of its regional power, no longer controls its skies, and exercises diminished control over its streets. At the war’s conclusion, the 86-year-old Khamenei emerged from hiding to declare victory in a raspy voice—a spectacle meant to project strength that instead underscored the regime’s frailty.

Israeli hostages freed, hundreds of Palestinians released, as Trump hails ‘historic dawn’

TEL AVIV — President Trump declared the Gaza war over and received a standing ovation in Israel’s parliament then in Egypt at a signing ceremony on Monday for his leading role in bringing about a ceasefire in the war-ravaged territory.

In a crucial part of the agreement, Hamas released the last 20 living Israeli hostages who had been captive for just over two years.

Yemen rises as the decisive front in the US-Israel bid for regional control

As normalization accelerates and Israel scrambles to neutralize the Yemeni threat, Sanaa asserts its central role in shaping West Asia’s power balance.

Since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023, Yemen’s Ansarallah-aligned armed forces have transformed the Red Sea into a pressure point against Tel Aviv and Washington, extending operations to the Mediterranean and disrupting both Israeli and US interests.

Hamas will only disarm if fighters integrated into Palestinian National Army: Official

Netanyahu has said that Hamas must disarm the ‘easy way or the hard way’ following the Gaza ceasefire deal

During an interview with Sky News on 10 October, senior Hamas official Dr. Basem Naim confirmed that Hamas would not completely disarm and that the movement would only hand over its weapons to a Palestinian state and integrate its fighters into a Palestinian national army.

Future Scenarios for the Two Libyas

Cultural facts and latest developments

If we study the culture of individual peoples and set out to see how they differ from each other, even ethnically and within the same country, we can easily understand what centrifugal forces are at work and, if necessary, prepare remedies to prevent the collapse of the state. This phenomenon can be observed today in Europe with the populist forces that are slowly reshaping it: forces that are, however, foolishly defined by the elitist media as “far right”, as well as “influenced” or even “directed” by Russia (having a bogeyman always serves to divert attention from the real responsibilities of the European political and administrative class). This trend can also clearly be observed in North Africa.

A Changed Region Two Years After the October 7 Attack

Bottom Line Up Front

Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, numerous seemingly sacrosanct red lines in the region have been crossed, including extensive warfare between Iran and Israel on each other’s territory, and the Houthi threat to commercial freedom of navigation through the Red Sea.

Kosovo in the ‘90s: an economy for the darkest hour – Edison Jakurti

Economic structures from decades past continue to shape Kosovo’s economy.

From today’s perspective, living in Kosovo in the 1990s can be best captured by reversing Charles Dickens’ monumental opening in “A Tale of Two Cities”: “it was the worst of times, it was the best of times.” Within just a decade, we went from losing the best we were given in Yugoslavia — autonomy; to gaining the least any nation deserves — freedom; and eventually, independence.

Foundations of Kosovo’s parallel state – Besnik Pula

Personal and economic context for Yugoslavia’s collapse

I vividly remember the summer day in 1991 when my father and I boarded a 3 a.m. bus from Prishtina to Belgrade, where we would catch our morning flight to JFK airport in New York City. A mix of excitement and anxiousness kept me from sleeping that night. The beige-colored bus, operated by the once renowned Tourist Kosova company, departed from the front of the Grand Hotel Prishtina, likely for the convenience of the rare foreign journalist or visitor who might have been staying there during those tumultuous years. Just weeks earlier, I had severely injured my ankle in a fall, so I limped from our apartment to the bus with my luggage. I bid my mother and my great aunt, who had graciously come out that morning to see us away, farewell, climbed onto the bus with my father, and we set off.