Stories Archive | Page 3 of 84

Analyses

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.

International Affairs
Iran: The End of the Axis and Strategic Adaptation
Pegah Zohouri 6 November 2025

Over the past two years, Iran has suffered the most significant blows to its deterrence capacity since the founding of the Islamic Republic, losing much of the regional influence it once wielded through loyal proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and even Yemen. Once able to mobilize allied forces across the Middle East in pursuit of shared interests against Israel, Tehran now faces a drastically diminished strategic position. Following Hamas’s October 2023 attacks, Israel systematically targeted Iranian proxies—crippling Hamas in Gaza, weakening Hezbollah in Lebanon, and, with the collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, depriving Iran of its crucial Syrian ally. Subsequent Israeli strikes deep into Iranian territory further exposed Tehran’s intelligence failures, limited military reach, and diplomatic isolation. Yet the current retrenchment of Iran and its allies does not signify collapse; rather, it represents a phase of strategic recalibration within an evolving regional order characterized by multi-alignment and shifting power centers.
International Affairs
Cengiz Aktar: “Turkey Confronts Tel Aviv’s New Regional Hegemony”
Alessandra Tommasi 6 November 2025

Over the past decade, Turkey has tried to carve out a role as a regional power, swinging between neo-Ottoman ambition and economic pragmatism. Ankara has multiplied its interventions: backing Qatar, confronting the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, and deepening its involvement in Libya. Yet since October 7, 2023, the balance of power in the Middle East has shifted again. The Gaza war, the reshuffling of alliances, and the weakening of the so-called “axis of resistance” have all curbed Ankara’s claims to leadership, according to Cengiz Aktar, Turkish dissident and professor of Political Science at the University of Athens, in an interview with Reset DOC.
International Affairs
Olivier Roy: “Israel Made a Palestinian State Impossible”
Alessandra Tommasi 6 November 2025

Two years after October 7, the Middle East is undergoing a profound transformation. Israeli assertiveness, Iran’s weakening influence, and the reshaping of al-Sharaa’s Syria are redefining the regional balance, while fragile truces and new hierarchies of power reveal a landscape still in flux. In this context, French political scientist and leading expert on political Islam, Olivier Roy, reflects for Reset DOC on the region’s prospects, the deadlock of the Palestinian question, and the evolving relationship between Israel and its neighbors.
International Affairs
What Now for the Middle East?
Pasquale Ferrara 6 November 2025

What are the defining features of the hypothetical “new Middle East” emerging after the tragic events of October 7, 2023? Beyond the unspeakable tragedy unfolding in Gaza—a catastrophe not only of immense humanitarian proportions but also of deep political inconsistency—several recent developments stand out. These markers help illuminate the ongoing attempt to reshape the region, not necessarily toward lasting stability, but more plausibly toward a provisional armistice. Such a phase, though conditional, would nonetheless be welcome if it could create the groundwork for a genuine space for negotiation on the fundamental issues of the conflict.
International Affairs
The Gulf Between Defending the Vision Frameworks and a New Security Architecture
Luca Marin 6 November 2025

Two years after the events of October 7, 2023, the Middle East is undergoing a profound phase of redefinition. The conflict between Israel and Hamas, rising tensions with Iran, and intensifying global competition have prompted the Gulf countries to reassess their strategic priorities. In this context, the perspective of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) revolves around two central axes: the protection of their domestic transformation programs—the so-called Visions—and the safeguarding of security within an increasingly multipolar environment.
International Affairs
Syria and Lebanon: A Test of Sovereignty
Riccardo Cristiano 6 November 2025

The scale of the transformation that has swept across Syria and Lebanon after the upheavals of 2024 can be grasped in what is not a mere a detail: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani paid an official visit to Beirut to define the new judicial agreement between the two countries. For the Assads, Lebanon was at best a protectorate. The fall of Bashar al-Assad and the elimination of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, along with the entire chain of command of the Party of God, have marked a turning point. But Syria still does not know where it is headed, and Lebanon is not sure it can stand on its own; both remain in the grips of economic collapse. The real novelty is that the international community continues to support them, even if the Saudis, the main donors, are clearly hinting that they expect greater awareness from both Syrian and Lebanese leaders.
International Affairs
Zohran Mamdani’s Victory Was Imperative for America’s Sake
Hussein Ibish 6 November 2025

As the Democratic Party struggles in the political wilderness following last year’s national Republican sweep, the American left is being electrified by the improbable and inspiring election on Tuesday night of Zohran Mamdani as the mayor of New York City.
Rethinking the Liberal Tradition
Lea Ypi 31 October 2025

A key concept on which our understanding of democracy relies is freedom. Yet freedom has recently also become something of an embarrassment to the global Left, a notion more easily appropriated by the Right, in its defense of individual rights in contrast to shared social norms. I would like to reflect on what a robust idea of freedom for the Left might look like, and why it is necessary to recover it, rather than trying to do away with it. And I want to raise that question in a way that urges us to reflect on both micro-history and macro-history: how world historical events shape and constrain the lives of individuals who happen to be caught up in them, and how existing political institutions try and fail to promote certain moral ideals.
Political Theory
The Three Failures of Neoliberalism and Europe’s Democratic Renewal
Emanuele Felice 31 October 2025

Neoliberalism is a political ideology that, in its most “kindly” interpretation, places economic freedom at the center, as both the key and foundation for all other freedoms. Since the 1970s, it has taken shape through a set of principles, especially in economic policy, applied with varying degrees of intensity and consistency by nearly every country in the world.
Political Theory
Toward a Reparative Democracy
Wendy Brown 31 October 2025

With no clear vision for a lasting peace in Palestine, and private interests winding ever deeper into the fabric of public life, there appear to be no real bulwarks left to counter the dangers threatening our shared future. Liberal democracy no longer seems to possess the vitality needed to protect the very institutions that once sustained it. Between war and accelerating climate breakdown, how can we place people—rather than markets or power blocs—back at the center of democracy? Wendy Brown, of the Institute for Advanced Studies, spoke with Reset DOC about her idea of reparative democracy—a post-liberal vision for renewing democracy in the face of rising authoritarianism, ecological collapse, and the exhaustion of the liberal order.