International

Fragile Truce Collapses: U.S. and Iran Trade New Strikes as Gulf States Are Drawn Into the Fire

Background
The war between the United States, Israel, and Iran that has consumed the Middle East for most of 2026 began with a single, seismic strike. On February 28, American and Israeli forces carried out a coordinated air campaign against Iranian leadership targets in Tehran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei…

U.S. Strikes Iran Again as Strait of Hormuz Crisis Reignites, Trump Declares Ceasefire “Over”

The fragile truce that had quieted, if not ended, the 2026 Iran war shattered this week after Iranian forces struck three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the United States responded with a fresh wave of military strikes across Iranian territory. The exchange, which unfolded over roughly 24 hours beginning Tuesday, marks the most…

Trump Presses NATO on Spending and Greenland as Zelensky Makes Urgent Patriot Appeal in Ankara

NATO leaders gathered in Ankara, Turkey on July 7 and 8 for the alliance's 36th summit — only the second ever hosted by Turkey — under conditions that exposed both the alliance's growing military ambitions and the deep strains running through the U.S.-European relationship. President Donald Trump used the summit to renew pressure…

NATO Leaders Gather in Ankara as Trump Presses Allies to Make Good on Their 5% Defense Spending Pledge

Background
NATO's 32 heads of state and government convened in Ankara, Turkiye, on July 7 and 8, 2026, for the alliance's annual summit, hosted this year by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The gathering is the first major test of the landmark spending commitment NATO members made a year earlier…

Kabul Strikes Back: Taliban Drones Hit Pakistan as the Border War Deepens

World Politics

The war between Afghanistan and Pakistan has crossed a threshold. On July 1, Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced that its air force had struck what it called Islamic State centers inside Pakistan — in Saranan, a town in Balochistan’s Pishin district, and at sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa…

Iran Buries Khamenei: Mass Mourning, a Hidden Successor, and Diplomacy on Pause

World Politics 

Tehran is in the grip of one of the largest public mourning events in the Islamic Republic’s history. On July 4, Iran opened a six-day state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who ruled the country for more than three and a half decades before he was killed on February 28…