It is 20 years since the USA began its invasion of Iraq. Alongside the countless dead Iraqis and U.S. soldiers, it was the West’s credibility in the Arab world that would fall victim to this war. As Karim El-Gawhary argues, this loss is still having consequences two decades laterMore

Mourning the deaths of earthquake victims in the Middle East or sympathising with the suffering of survivors doesn’t win you political points. Joe Biden's State of the Nation address completely ignored the earthquake in Syria and Turkey. Is the Arab-Islamic world gradually disappearing from U.S. politics? Essay by Stefan BuchenMore

Relations between Turkey and Russia are ambivalent. Moscow is nonetheless trying to prop up the leadership in Ankara. Elections are to be held in Turkey in June – and the last thing Russia wants is Erdogan’s departure. By Burak UnverenMore

There are signs of an imminent normalisation of relations between Turkey and Syria. This would allow Erdogan to score political points domestically before the upcoming elections in Turkey. It would also be opportune for Putin. By Ronald MeinardusMore

Recent efforts to rehabilitate Assad are setting a damaging precedent for accountability, just as the international community is expressing the need to hold Russia to account for similar human rights violations in Ukraine. By Burcu OzcelikMore

Egypt’s military regime is tirelessly modernising roads, public transport and industry across the country and erecting a luxurious administrative capital for the upper class. But the construction boom is primarily financed on credit – Cairo is racing headlong into a debt crisis. By Sofian Philip NaceurMore

Germany needs a strategy when brokering deals with countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates that allows it to maintain its own moral compass. By Sebastian SonsMore