The alarming pace of events in Afghanistan is forcing United States and Nato strategists to adjust their strategy and timetable to end the war. But they cannot acknowledge the flaw at the heart of their efforts.
The Syrian regime's violent repression persists, in a context of regional rivalries that fuel the country's conflict. The ensuing impasse also reflects the dominance of state interests over international justice.
The military-political interplay in Afghanistan is taking an alarming new tilt for Washington. The possibility of a more precipitous exit is rising.
Israel will seek United States endorsement for any decision to confront Iran - but its allies there will more likely to be found in the heartland than in the White House.
A military build-up, harsh rhetoric, third-country attacks - and the political calendar - make war against Iran a real possibility. It is all the more vital that those attempting to avert it should succeed.
Washington's military withdrawal from Iraq and problems in Afghanistan are forcing a change of strategy. Barack Obama's political fate will determine how far it will go.
A range of military and political developments, from the very rare planned deployment of three huge United States armadas in the Persian Gulf to Israeli fears of Barack Obama’s re-election, is evidence of rising danger around Iran.
Because of the combination of multiple financial crises, the Arab Awakening the Occupy movement and other rapid developments, today’s discussion is radically different to any such meeting five years
A sense of enduring history and more recent experience of bitter conflict inform Iran's nuclear stance. To understand this could be a way to avoid war.
The prognosis of a thirty-year war looked outlandish as Saddam's regime toppled, persuasive as Iraq's insurgency erupted - and now less plausible amid American forces' retreat. But two core issues continue to give it life.
There is powerful evidence for the argument that the al-Qaida movement is in decline. But there are other processes at work - including in United States presidential politics - that could yet create a different outcome.
A year of turbulence across a wide arc from AfPak to the Arab world, from Somalia to Nigeria, poses key questions to al-Qaida. The movement again commissions a report from its favoured consultancy, to which openDemocracy has exclusive access.
