Understanding politics across borders and divides
Published: November 5, 2026 Democrats won control of both chambers of the US Congress in the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, ending two years of unified Republican government under President Donald Trump. The party flipped seven Senate seats, in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina, and gained a large House majority … Read more
Published: September 24, 2026 Iran, Gaza and the search for a new Secretary-General have dominated the first two days of the UN General Assembly’s general debate, and much of the real diplomacy has happened outside the hall. President Donald Trump told the Assembly on September 22 that he must decide whether to “annihilate” Iran or … Read more
Published: July 19, 2026 Overview Iraq spent the first half of 2026 doing what its political system does best and worst: turning a clear election result into a negotiated compromise that satisfied almost no one cleanly. Voters went to the polls in November 2025 and gave the largest single bloc to the coalition of incumbent … Read more
Published: July 19, 2026 The interim deal that was supposed to end the 2026 US-Iran war has collapsed, and for the first time since March, American troops are dying to direct Iranian fire. US Central Command announced on July 18 that two service members were killed in Jordan the previous day, with one more missing … Read more
Published: July 18, 2026 Overview Iran has a new supreme leader for only the second time since 1979. Ali Khamenei was killed on February 28, 2026, in strikes during the war with Israel and the United States, and on March 9 the Assembly of Experts named his son Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed him. The hereditary … Read more