Syria’s condition: Bashar al-Assad

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 rash entry into a war of choice exposes President Donald Trump in a number of ways—and he may prove more dangerous as he becomes weaker. Turkey’s foreign entanglements mask the democratic backsliding at home; that is bad news for an opposition figure whose trial just began. And ...  Show more

Tomorrow, Syria’s president will be welcomed back into the Arab League as regional leaders meet in Jeddah. Is this the dictator’s first step in a journey to restore ties with the rest of the world? America’s small banks are capturing rural communities in a way that the big one ...

Our correspondent meets with <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/10/10/peter-obi-a-man-who-carries-his-own-suitcases-could-be-nigerias-next-president?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.conte ...

Voting begins today in an <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/03/12/russians-go-to-the-polls-in-a-sham-election-for-their-president?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_ar ...

The long-anticipated <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/10/28/israels-new-plan-to-encircle-hamas?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa. ...