November, 2025

• 21 November

  Leaked Russian Records Reveal Obscure Firms Helping Bust Oil Sanctions on North Korea

  

  For the past eight years, Russia and its fellow U.N. Security Council members have maintained economic sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear testing, including severe restrictions on selling crude oil and refined petroleum exports to the isolated dictatorship. The 2017 sanctions limit total exports of oil products to North …

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• 21 November

  Syria Needs a Reconstruction Plan

  

  Syria needs an economic reconstruction program. Desperately. Yet nearly a year after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, there is still no talk of putting together a comprehensive economic reconstruction plan, whether in Damascus or among the obvious international stakeholders. Without clarity and wide-based consultation on the country’s new economic …

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• 21 November

  What Kind of Future for Iran?

  

  Michael Young: You’ve just written a very interesting essay for Foreign Affairs in which you examine the kind of changes that may be coming to Iran once the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, passes away. Before getting into the piece itself, what immediately hits the reader is that your conclusions …

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• 21 November

  Abbas Names a Successor (Again)

  

  On October 27, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, issued “Constitutional Declaration 1 of 2025.” It is a laconic document that lays out quite clearly that once Abbas vacates his office, his replacement for a brief interim period, renewable once, will be Hussein al-Sheikh. He is identified not …

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• 21 November

  How the Flaws of Trump’s Gaza Deal Prevent an Enduring Peace

  

  For over a month now, a tenuous ceasefire has held in the Gaza Strip following intense pressure on Israel and Hamas by the United States and regional partners. U.S. President Donald Trump’s twenty-point plan for ending two years of fighting delivered a welcome respite in a conflict that has seen …

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• 21 November

  Seven Sons and Mullahs: Chinese–Iranian Defense-Linked Academic Collaboration

  

  Background—A Scientific Military-Civil Partnership On March 27, 2021, the People’s Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement.[1] China’s pledge of a $400 billion investment in Iran, which has yet to be fulfilled, attracted significant global attention. Less attention was given to the …

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• 21 November

  Perspectives on Muhammad bin Salman’s Visit to Washington

  

  Washington Institute experts discuss each government’s likely agenda for the landmark visit, from dealmaking in the energy and AI sectors to deepening the bilateral defense relationship and taking the difficult next steps in the fragile Gaza ceasefire plan. Normalization Prospects and Gaza President Trump will host Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad …

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• 21 November

  Iraq’s Election: Outcomes and Next Steps

  

  Sudani did very well at the ballot box, but the peculiarities of Iraq’s long government formation process and the final distribution of parliamentary seats may leave the main Iran-backed coalition in the driver’s seat. At first blush, the results of Iraq’s November 11 parliamentary election were encouraging, including for U.S. …

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• 21 November

  A More Effective Approach to Countering the Muslim Brotherhood

  

  Instead of pinning a terrorist designation on the entire group, the Trump administration should focus more narrowly on the national security threats presented by individual Brotherhood branches and organizations, especially those funding Hamas. On June 1, an Egyptian national carried out an antisemitic firebombing attack targeting a group of peaceful …

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• 21 November

  Al-Qaïda à la Maison-Blanche et ses implications bien au-delà

  

  La réhabilitation par l’Occident d’anciennes figures d’Al-Qaïda telles qu’Abou Mohammed al-Joulani reflète une stratégie américaine de longue date consistant à instrumentaliser les groupes extrémistes à des fins géopolitiques, désormais de plus en plus dirigée contre la Russie, la Chine et leurs partenaires. Dans une vingtaine d’années peut-être, les médias occidentaux …

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