The Caravan

Issue 2249

Christians Under Assault

Christian communities face hostilities in a range of Muslim-majority countries. Sometimes they face armed militias, elsewhere mob violence or discriminatory treatment from state bureaucracies.

Issue 2248

President Trump’s Visits to the Gulf and US Foreign Policy

President Trump has put relations with Saudi Arabia in the foreground of his foreign policy. This choice contrasts significantly with the choices of his two most recent predecessors. It sends clear signals about the Trump administration’s priorities for a foreign policy of interests or of values.

Issue 2247

The Maritime Middle East: Strategy, Interests, Conflict

This issue of The Caravan turns to the maritime Middle East: the bodies of water that frame the region, from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean through Suez to the Red Sea and the Gulf. The projection of power by global actors as well as the local conflicts play out through forces on the sea. Control of the chokepoints defines the competition. US strategy ultimately must pay attention to the naval dimension of the region as well as the priority of preserving freedom of navigation.

Issue 2246

After the Assad Regime

The sudden collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024, brought an end to a family dictatorship that had lasted for half a century. Syria had been a brutal police state with extensive surveillance, notorious prisons and egregious human rights violations. The regime’s war against its restive population had led to extensive internal displacement and waves of refugees that have destabilized Europe.   In terms of the geopolitics of the region, Syria had provided Russia with a reentry into the Middle East, just as it facilitated arms transfers from Iran to Lebanon in support of the "axis of resistance." But now Islamist forces have overthrown Assad. What is in store for Syria and its neighbors?

Filtering By:

Displaying of