Confused unity: the mood in Iran

As the war in Iran progresses, none of the options available to Donald Trump looks good. We examine each of them. Thailand’s Buddhist monks are implicated in lots of lawless and dodgy behaviour—but clearing out the bad apples is more complicated than it seems. And gene-editing co ...  Show more

As attention has focused on war in Iran, Israel sees an opportunity to crush a weakened Hizbullah in Lebanon. Our correspondent says it would be far better for the Lebanese state to do so. As south-east Asia is modernising, Islam is counterintuitively gaining greater primacy in c ...  Show more

A sudden war made Iran’s leaders look unprepared. And many Iranians loathe the regime. But there are <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/06/16/will-irans-hated-regime-implode?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&ut ...

Less than nine months after Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled, the honeymoon is over. How is the new regime responding to rising dissent? Introducing Britain’s revolutionary retirees: why pensioners increasingly dominate political protest. And celebrating the life of o ...  Show more

Horrifying attacks on Alawites, the sect of deposed leader Bashar al-Assad, throw into question the power—or the will—of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the country’s leader, to <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/03/10/a-horrific-killing-spree-shakes-syria?utm_cam ...

We examine the path of <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/06/21/ayatollah-ali-khamenei-irans-great-survivor?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&u ...