Analysis
Since 2012, the Week in Review keeps you ahead of the curve with in-depth analysis of the trends in the region, based on Al-Monitor’s world class reporting.
Israel weighs response to Hezbollah rocket threat
For now, deterrence holds on Israel’s northern border; Iran ready to "fight to the last man" in Syria; Why does Erdogan go easy on Putin over Syrian Kurds?
![Israeli soldiers evacuate their comrade, playing the role of an injured person, as they drive past a Hezbollah flag during a combined forces drill in Shizafon military base, near Eilat in southern Israel June 7, 2016. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTSGDEV](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/03/RTSGDEV.jpg/RTSGDEV.jpg?h=4d55c178&itok=PL_ZZstd)
Putin gets some payback with 'alternative project' for Libya
Why Putin backs Hifter; Barzani’s Sinjar dilemma; Israel’s missing Gaza policy; GCC moves to the margins on Syria.
![General Khalifa Haftar, commander in the Libyan National Army (LNA), leaves after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov - RTSTRVH](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/03/RTSTRVH.jpg/RTSTRVH.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=x9EVj8eO)
Could Turkey’s misstep in Manbij provide template for Raqqa?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest threat complicates Pentagon planning to oust the Islamic State from its so-called capital; United States provides intelligence for Iraqi strike in Syria.
![RTSMZ67.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/03/RTSMZ67.jpg/RTSMZ67.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=u61qGiOg)
Iran pulls Palestine from the margins
The Iranian leadership turns out in force for Palestinian conference; Turkey’s victory in al-Bab may be a prelude to a showdown with the Syrian Kurds.
![Yahya Sinwar (C), the new leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, arrives for the opening of a new mosque in Rafah town in the southern Gaza Strip on February 24, 2017. / AFP / SAID KHATIB (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/03/GettyImages-644886048.jpg/GettyImages-644886048.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=VzY0zQff)
Erdogan banks on motley crew of Syrian armed groups
Turkey’s Syria partners seen as "ill-disciplined, untrained and inexperienced"; Erodgan links opposition to referendum to coup plotters; Mattis rules out US-Russia military cooperation "for now."
![Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters walk with their weapons during an offensive against Islamic State militants in northern Raqqa province, Syria February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTX3067W](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/02/RTX3067W.jpg/RTX3067W.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=3vcU1DRE)
Turkey walks fine line in dealing with 'frenemy' jihadis
Turkey’s mixed messages in crackdown terrorist groups; Ankara on sidelines, again, in Syria; Syrian Kurds consider federalism, view Turkish attack on al-Bab as "fiasco."
![Turkish army tanks and military personal are stationed in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2MYWR](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/02/RTX2MYWR.jpg/RTX2MYWR.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=Wx3vRfwA)
Is Erdogan’s Syria policy slipping through his fingers?
Syrian Kurds may dash Turkish president’s expectations for US President Donald Trump.
![Demonstrators hold placards outside Downing Street during a march against U.S. President Donald Trump and his temporary ban on refugees and nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, in London, Britain, February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall - RTX2ZLR6](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/02/RTX2ZLR6.jpg/RTX2ZLR6.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=VSsNp4n1)
Why did Russia offer autonomy for Syria’s Kurds?
Draft constitution from Russia seeks to decentralize Syrian state authority, limit presidential powers; Turkish forces struggle in two-front campaign against both the Islamic State and Syrian Kurds; Al-Monitor offers in-depth reporting on Syrian Kurdish region.
![RTSVUBC.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/01/RTSVUBC.jpg/RTSVUBC.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=M7muRGLD)
Is Turkey’s shift on Assad beginning of the end of Syria’s war?
Turkish deputy prime minister says "we just have to work with what we have"; no sectarian divide in Aleppo; the Syrian Kurdish fault line.
![People inspect a site hit by airstrikes at a parking garage in the rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah - RTSW2U6](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/01/RTSW2U6.jpg/RTSW2U6.jpg?h=077ac243&itok=hBMv3ptS)
Syrians express 'deep anger' at Turkey for war
Al-Monitor reports from Damascus and Aleppo, where Russian Chechen troops stand guard; Iraqi prime minister seeks improved ties with neighbors.
![People drive a vehicle in al-Rai town, northern Aleppo countryside, Syria January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RTX2YTMK](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/01/RTX2YTMK.jpg/RTX2YTMK.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=h1T7NkUR)
Pagination
Netanyahu, regional leaders hedge on possible Trump win in November
The Israeli prime minister is under pressure to deliver on a cease-fire during his Washington visit next week; Biden can’t heal Democrat divisions over Israel and the Gaza war.
![JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-1230516369.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=-Zxq4qmm)
Lebanon FM warns of 'devastating’ regional war if Israel escalates campaign against Hezbollah
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Lebanon's top diplomat, Abdallah Bou Habib, adds that security in the south ultimately depends on a strong Lebanese army and an agreement on the border – not war.
![BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 15: Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib speaks to the media following talks with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on December 15, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. The two diplomats discussed mutual measures to prevent the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict from expanding to other regions, among other issues. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-1857491748.jpg?h=9855f42d&itok=rgoJZYYE)
US, Iran guarantors of shaky deterrence between Israel and Hezbollah
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is not ready to go to the mattresses over the killing of another senior commander on Wednesday, and Iran doesn't want a war while it favors the threat of confrontation as a deterrent.
![A portrait of Musa al-Sadr sits amid the rubble of a destroyed building in the heavily damaged, Hezbollah stronghold town of Aita al Chaab on June 29, 2024 in Aita al Chaab, Lebanon. Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been trading cross-border fire since the October 7 attacks, with the conflict escalating in May when the group launched a missile-carrying drone against Israel for the first time. The conflict intensified in June when Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israeli m](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-07/GettyImages-2159834748.jpg?h=4296c093&itok=iuOsSvRF)
G42-Microsoft partnership in Kenya 'just the beginning,' says UAE trade minister
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi discusses momentum in UAE trade with the US, the benefits of economic diversification and Africa’s priority in UAE trade policy.
![Indonesian President Joko Widodo (L) listens to a speech by United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi (R) during the inauguration of the newly built floating solar power plant on the water that can generate 192 mega watts of peak electricity in cooperation between the Indonesian government and Masdar from the UAE, at Cirata Reservoir, West Java, on November 9, 2023. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP) (Photo by BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/2024-06/GettyImages-1771551969.jpg?h=1dfc45c8&itok=YsgRPZu4)