Analyses
Protests in Iran: A Reflection of the Islamic Republic’s Institutional Crisis
Nicola Pedde 22 January 2026
The history of the Islamic Republic of Iran—established in 1979 following the revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi—is marked by a dense sequence of developments that have progressively altered its political and institutional configuration. These changes, however, have only sporadically been recognized by Western analyses, which have instead tended to perpetuate a more functional and instrumental stereotype based on the image of a monolithic, highly verticalized religious autocracy. While such a characterization was broadly accurate during the first decade of the Islamic Republic, it has undergone a profound transformation since 1989.
  • John L. Esposito: The Dean of Islamic Studies in the West – A Tribute
    Mohammed Hashas 24 July 2026
    Understanding faith traditions—their civilizational and cultural histories and contributions—wins further clarity and recognition if the scholar comes to the field equipped with knowledge of other faith traditions as well as profound spiritual experience. This is the case of John Louis Esposito, an American of Italian origins who intended to become a priest, and ended up building bridges between the so-called Muslim world and the West.
  • The Limits of China’s New Ethnic Unity Law under International Law
    Gaetano Pentassuglia 21 July 2026
    As many in the West embrace the ideal of the world with progressively weaker—or even obsolete—states, China’s legal entrenchment of national unity may look odd or counterintuitive, perhaps anti-historical, considering China’s own keenness to engage with the world through trade and wider cooperation. In reality, China’s declared pursuit of social cohesion speaks to underlying issues of national identity and self-perception affecting the contemporary fabric of most societies. China’s move, however, reveals significant tensions with the requirements of international law for any viable national concept to be sustainable.
  • Lebanon and the Shadow of Permanent Occupation
    Claudia De Martino 19 July 2026
    On Friday, June 26, Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement—mediated by the United States—ending the conflict that began last March. The agreement covers several decisive points, including active US involvement in its implementation and in financing Lebanon’s armed forces (LAF), while also accommodating firm positions held by both sides.  The Lebanese government emerges politically legitimized, while Israel retains considerable room to maneuver in Lebanon. Yet Israel itself is among the parties that may prove an unreliable partner when it comes to the agreement holding.
  • The End of the Hezbollah Ambiguity? Lebanon’s Negotiating Moment
    Riccardo Cristiano 25 June 2026
    Small, economically hollowed out by years of devastating crisis and torn apart by a war that is slowly erasing its southern flank, Lebanon has never mattered more to the world than it does right now. With only weeks left to settle their accounts, the Americans and Iranians opened their Swiss negotiations with a bitter, hours-long quarrel—over Lebanon. Only once Iran had extracted something on the Lebanese front—a tacit acknowledgment of its role as the country’s patron—did the two sides find a way to get to the matters that were really theirs to discuss. Tehran clearly sees Lebanon as an extension of itself: proof of its regional reach, recognition of which it is determined to secure—and to some degree, it has.
  • Between Iran and the West: The Global Making of Marjane Satrapi
    Pegah Zohouri 24 June 2026
    In an age increasingly dominated by simplified narratives about identity and geopolitics, Satrapi insisted on complexity. She reminded readers that a people is never identical to its government, just as a life can never be reduced to a political category. Instead, she sought to humanize Iranians and reclaim the complexity of everyday life. That is why her work continues to resonate today: not because it explains Iran once and for all, but because it demonstrates how individual lives can illuminate history better than ideological certainties ever could. In a world increasingly drawn to black-and-white visions of politics and identity, the artist who drew almost exclusively in black and white devoted her life to revealing the shades of grey.
  • After Crimea: The New Lives of the Crimean Tatar Diaspora in Turkey
    Ilaria Romano 11 June 2026
    Turkey is home to several Crimean Tatar communities and cultural centers capable of connecting every newcomer with the wider diaspora. Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, the networking efforts carried out not only in Ankara but also in other Turkish cities became essential for welcoming new arrivals, not merely for maintaining ties with the homeland and preserving cultural identity.
  • Crimean Tatars: The Migrations of a People United in Diaspora
    Ilaria Romano 10 June 2026
    The 1944 deportation left an indelible mark on the history of the Crimean Tatars. It is estimated that at least 200,000 people were forced to leave within just two days, while a policy of erasing traces of the Crimean Tatar presence was launched across the peninsula, from replacing the original names of towns and villages with Russian ones to destroying schools, libraries, and mosques.
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