Fifty years ago this past week, on July 26, 1956, the Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Nasser’s act would lead to an international crisis, a regional war and ultimately to the resignation of a British prime minister. “Suez” would become a lesson and a warning against Western meddling in the Middle   more

Here’s what we don’t know: We don’t know whether Hezbollah anticipated the strong Israeli reaction to its kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.
That means we don’t know whether Hezbollah intended to trigger a major regional war–or whether it complacently assumed it could pressure Israel into a 400-to-1 prisoner exchange like the one Hezbollah extracted in 2004.   more

War is bomb blasts, explosions, violence, confusion. But maybe a short chronology of events can bring a little order to the story–and help us to understand the origins of this latest spasm of violence in the Middle East.
Through this hot summer, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, have been   more

And here I thought Islamic law forbade gambling. Yet Hamas, Hezbollah, and the rulers of Iran–supposedly devout Muslims all–have just shaken the dice and rolled them in a fearful game where the stakes will be measured in human lives.
Let’s examine the game from the point of view of each of these players.
Hamas

Hamas is   more

Mexico’s cliff-hanger presidential election–and the threat by loser Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to fight the result in the streets–has disappointed Mexico’s friends around the world. But what else is new? Mexico is a perennial disappointment to everyone, and to the people of Mexico above all.
By world standards, Mexico is not an especially poor country.   more

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a complex opinion rebuking much of the Bush administration’s legal response to the 9/11 attacks. The court ruled that al-Qaeda detainees were entitled to at least a modicum of protection under the Geneva conventions–and that the President needed Congress’ approval before sending detainees to military tribunals for trial   more