"Poor-quality democracy”

Could Herat Become for the Taliban What Mahsa Amini Became for Iran? When armed morality police officers appeared on the streets of Herat on Tuesday, few could have imagined that the detention of several women for “improperly wearing the hijab”...

There are wars that redraw maps. There are wars that topple governments. And then there are wars that fundamentally change how nations will fight in the future.

When the heads of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization convene an emergency coordination meeting, it usually means that a problem has grown far beyond the boundaries of an ordinary regional crisis.

While the world remains focused on the war in Ukraine and tensions surrounding Taiwan, Washington and Tehran appear to be moving toward one of the most unexpected diplomatic agreements in recent years — a deal that could reshape the security architecture of the Middle East and restore stability to one of the world’s most critical energy corridors.