Middle East and North Africa

Don’t pretend the U.N. can save Syria

It is time to set Lakhdar Brahimi free. After a year's service as envoy for the United Nations and Arab League to Syria, the veteran Algerian mediator faces the final breakdown of his efforts to end the war.

Syria and the politicisation of British foreign policy

With the parliamentary rejection of a major foreign policy initiative, Britain has crossed a watershed in foreign policy making, but the question is not about whether the UK engages with the world. It is about how its foreign policy is made.

Eight things to consider before intervening in Syria

Before any Western intervention in the Syrian conflict, eight key issues need to be considered – from the goals of intervention and the legal issue to the regional impact and the possibility of a diplomatic alternative

Europe must recognise that Egypt is not moving to democracy

As Egypt appears to lurch back towards a pre-revolutionary security state, there's an urgent need for the EU to make a firm statement that the country is no longer moving towards a democratic future

Who will pick up the pieces in Egypt?

This week's violence in Egypt is a watershed moment in the country's recent history, heralding more political contestation that is likely to be both harsh and unbalanced in favour of the government