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Rodger Shanahan

June

The Iranian regime is deeply unpopular, but being bombed by a foreign power tends to produce a nationalist effect.

Why Israel’s attack could push Iran to build a bomb

This conflict will solve nothing, and absent the collapse of the Iranian regime, it is quite possible that an even more consequential security threat may emerge in the future.

May

President Donald Trump speaks at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Trump’s Middle East visit is all about the money

When you’ve initiated a trade war with China, snaring foreign investment is like a victory on the battlefield for the US president.

December 2024

Opposition supporters carry opposition flags along the Al-Hamidiyeh market inside the old walled city in the Syrian capital, Damascus

The vexed conundrum facing Syria’s new regime

Preferencing Islamist rule in a multi-faith state cannot be done without consigning some to subordinate status – and there are some early signs of that disconnect.

October 2019

Turkey takes control of a Kurdish town

Trump hands Syria an easy win

The Kurds will have to make their peace with Bashar al-Assad. The West will worry about ISIS fighters becoming bargaining chips.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/rodger-shanahan-p4yvle