To truly defeat Hamas and achieve a better political reality in the Middle East in the long term, Israel will need a bold new leadership willing to chart a course toward the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, writes Ami Ayalon.
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“By accepting the basic idea of a U.S. withdrawal, policymakers in Washington are ignoring the present-day security challenges in Iraq.” Mina Al-Oraibi makes the case for a long-term bilateral agreement to maintain a U.S. troop presence in Iraq:
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“Over the past decade, the Middle East has been flooded with captagon. The drug, a mix of amphetamines and caffeine, has taken Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates by storm—along with the region as a whole.” trib.al/PegNOPK

“India’s Bharatiya Janata Party seems certain to win in the coming election, so the next five years are all but guaranteed to feature further authoritarianism and increasing marginalization of Muslims,” writes Hartosh Singh Bal.
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“The post–October 7 strategic landscape in the Middle East is one that was largely created by Iran and that plays to its strengths.” How can the United States and its regional allies counter Iran’s ambitions?
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Listen to the latest episode of “The Foreign Affairs Interview,” featuring former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk in conversation with editor Dan Kurtz-Phelan:
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Instead of deepening the Chinese economy’s reliance on foreign sources of demand, Beijing’s economic strategy should prioritize consumption-led growth, argue Daniel Rosen and Logan Wright.
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“With Washington embroiled in military action not just in Iraq but also in Syria, Yemen, and the Red Sea, U.S. leaders may be tempted to reduce what commitments they can. But they cannot avoid dealing with the threat of Iranian-backed forces in Iraq.” trib.al/1oGOf7f

.Hardin Lang and Jeremy Konyndyk urge the United States to deploy meaningful U.S. leverage—including pausing arms sales—to pressure Israel to stop hindering humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip.
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“The Biden administration offers up managing competition as a goal of its China policy, but that is not a goal; it is a method, and a counterproductive one at that.” Read Matt Pottinger and Mike Gallagher on the case for a more forceful U.S. China policy:
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It is time for the United States and its partners to take action to prevent mass starvation and preserve the fragile political order in Ethiopia, argue Alex de Waal and Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Berhe.
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By acting against Iranian military targets with relative impunity amid the war in Gaza, Israel is playing with fire—and intensifying the risk of regional escalation, writes Dalia Dassa Kaye.
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Jeffrey Hornung examines how the U.S.-Japanese relationship has evolved over the past decade—and urges the United States to make the alliance even more central to U.S. strategy.
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“The time has come to turn a page and redirect our resources and capabilities from waging wars toward promoting development.” Read Iraqi Prime Minister محمد شياع السوداني on the future of the U.S.-Iraqi partnership: trib.al/ChsafNx

Arab states’ punitive policies toward drug users have not curbed drug use, writes Vanda Felbab-Brown. With the region facing a growing methamphetamine crisis, it is increasingly urgent for these countries to change tack.
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“So far, Russia and China have not really worked in tandem on the disinformation front, instead spreading similar narratives in parallel—but a combined approach could well take shape as the governments grow ever closer.”
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“As time passes and the number of Palestinians killed continues to rise, Hamas’s atrocities on October 7 are fading from public consciousness, and Israel’s have weakened its own case to possess the moral high ground.”
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The United Nations agency known as UNRWA was created in 1949 to provide aid and services to Palestinian refugees from the first Arab-Israeli war. Read Jonathan Lincoln on the agency’s current role in Gaza—and why its existence is under threat today:
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“A long-term bilateral agreement for a U.S. troop presence in Iraq would be a clear signal that Iraq is not beholden to Iran, but an autonomous participant in a wider security architecture.”
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“Without a surge in Western military aid and major changes to Kyiv’s strategy, Ukraine’s battlefield position will continue to worsen before reaching a tipping point, possibly by this summer,” warns Dara Massicot.
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