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Foreign Policy

April 2026

Iran War Nears 60-Day War Powers Deadline

Pete Hegsethdefense Secretary
We are in a cease-fire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses, or stops, in a cease-fire,
Irene Vélez Torresenvironment Minister
We decided that the transition away from fossil fuels could no longer remain a slogan but must become a concrete, political, and collective endeavor,

Giorgia Meloni’s Populist Formula Failed

The Italian prime minister hasn’t convincingly delivered the renewal she once promised

Marina Cino Pagliarellodoctoral candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science
Meloni has dominated less through strength than through the weakness of others,
Marina Cino Pagliarellodoctoral candidate at the London School of Economics and Political Science
In domestic politics, Meloni used identitarian politics to consolidate support, but she hasn’t used her political capital to begin to enact structural reforms,
Giovanni Orsinaitalian academic
A nationalist government that has been successful when it received help from the European Union: This is no small contradiction,
Lorenzo Pregliascoitalian academic
Her government has been prudent,
We know the situation is better now than when we took office, but we also know we need to succeed in doing more and better, and we will do so because we are used to rolling up our sleeves,

An Ayatollah for the Aggrieved

Following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Shiite protesters in Karachi, Pakistan, and Baghdad, Iraq, stormed U.S. diplomatic missions and fought pitched battles with security forces

Farid Ahmad Parachapakistani politician
With the aggression against Gaza, this is a time to be united for the Muslim ummah,
Ruhollah Khomeinian Iranian cleric, politician, political theorist, and revolutionary who founded the Islamic Republic of Iran and served as its first supreme leader from 1979 until his death in 1989
Islam is politics or it is nothing.”
If the Islamic world were truly united, they would never have dared to do such a thing
We saw in the Iranian revolution a turbaned shaykh commanding the revolution of the oppressed against a despotic agent of imperialism and against a rotten capitalist class,
U.S. hegemony is over—its intellectual, political, and military might is over,
When Hezbollah was fighting against Israel, I defended it. I stood against Saudi scholars … who warned us against Hezbollah. … I believed things as they seemed to be. I wanted to unite all Muslims,

The Eulogy That Explains Israel’s Current Tragedy

Let us not cast accusations at the murderers today. Why should we blame them for their burning hatred for us? For eight years they have been dwelling in Gaza’s refugee camps, as before their eyes we have transformed the land and the villages in which they and their forefathers had dwelled into our own property.”
Omer Bartovhistorian
Because of his ambivalence about where guilt and responsibility for injustice and violence lay, and his deterministic, tragic view of history,
A heavy doom is disobedience, but heavy too if I shall rend my daughter.”
Yoav Gallantan Israeli politician and former military officer who served as minister of defense between 2022 and 2024
I don’t call them human animals because that would be insulting to animals.”

Where Is Iran’s Enriched Uranium?

We haven’t been able to inspect or to reject that the material is there and that the seals—the IAEA seals—remain there,
Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadaneazawad Liberation Front spokesperson
The regime will fall, sooner or later,
In trying to stop authorities from executing an arrest warrant by use of force, Yoon committed acts that are unacceptable in a society of law and order,
Donald Trumppresident
They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!”
Donald Trumppresident
Iran can’t get their act together,

‘Resign Immediately’: Democrats Grill Hegseth on Iran War

Pete Hegsethdefense Secretary
The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,
Ronny Jacksonamerican physician, politician, and naval officer (born 1967)
I can’t tell you awesome this hearing is today. It’s fantastic!”
Don Baconamerican politician (born 1963)
I just want to emphasize, we did put $400 million in for Ukraine,
Austin Scottrepresentative
It takes 218 votes to get something across the floor of the House of Representatives,
Pete Hegsethdefense Secretary
Two months into a conflict, lest I remind you—and my generation understands how long we were in Iraq, how long we were in Afghanistan, how long we were in Vietnam,

India Rethinks Energy Security Amid War

Many people might find the sight of bulldozers swiftly bringing down riverside structures satisfying, signs of government efficiency and responsibility. But the way it has bypassed due process is a worrying sign,
Recent estimates suggest that nearly four in ten Pakistanis struggle with some form of mental disorder. This should be enough to lift the issue from the private domain to the national agenda,

War Is Killing Ukraine’s Oligarchy

They typically also engaged in prodigious corruption and crime, and enjoyed free rein in gray-economy fields such as prostitution and gambling

They cannot be influential at the time through the usual political instruments,
We have a unique moment right now to change the balance and to fight the oligarchs, to change the system,
Instead of profits, they bear losses,
Ukraine is no longer an oligarch state,
The key structural assets of all oligarchs were partially either destroyed or are currently under attack,
They’ve been definitely sidelined over the last four years,
This would take a lot of political capital in normal times,

Why Indonesia Floated a Malacca Toll

Prabowo Subiantopresident
Are we aware that 70 percent of East Asia’s energy needs and 70 percent of trade pass through Indonesian seas?”
We sit along a key global trade and energy route, yet ships passing through the Malacca Strait are not charged,
We want to support their return to ASEAN. Our policy is to have steps in ⁠our interactions to bring them back,

King Charles III Delivers Pointed Message in Address to U.S. Congress

During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,
Charles IIIking
America’s words carry weight and meaning, as they have since independence. The actions of this great nation matter even more.”
I didn’t sleep that night. One piece ruins the whole thing,
Albin Kurtiprime Minister
I consider that it has been sufficiently clear that opposition has no other goal than a blockade,
However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates,
We continue to look for ways to ​strengthen the bilateral partnership between our two countries,

Why Iran Isn’t Blinking Yet

In a way, the impasse between the United States and Iran over the still-closed Strait of Hormuz boils down to storage

Even if the economy collapses, the IRGC is OK, and they are the ones doing the negotiating,
As storage approaches capacity, Iran will first reduce production rates to buy time and minimize reservoir damage. If the blockade persists, cuts become inevitable,
Are they close to having to shut in production? No, tankers are still coming and going from Kharg Island, and they still have some onshore storage,
Iraq stands out. Even if the strait reopens next month, oil production is likely to recover to only about 85 percent of prewar levels by year-end, with full recovery not expected before 2028. Some wells are likely to suffer permanent damage,

Japan and China Are Edging Dangerously Close to Conflict

On April 17, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Ikazuchi transited the Taiwan Strait

Ukraine Wants to Teach Europe What It Learned

A Ukrainian soldier in camouflage holds a large, gray drone with a wingspan a little longer than he is tall, with yellow and blue markings on its wings

Nicolas Tenzerfrench official and essayist
The United States is not an ally anymore,
Europe will continue supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Ukraine has become a fortress, a lesson Europe would do well to learn,
You’re not just doing this for Ukraine; you’re doing it for yourselves.”

Iran Offers to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Olivia Waleswhite House spokesperson
We have been clear about our red lines and the President will only make a deal that’s good for the American people and the world,
Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!"
Donald Trumppresident
Everything will be peanuts compared to that, if they ever were given a nuclear weapon,
Kim Jong Unnorth korean leader
We have inscribed in this memorial hall a new history of friendship with Russia written in blood and a new history of justice won with blood,