International

Outline of the map of Iran with an Irani flag superimposed on it

International March 9, 2026

Iran’s targeting of airport, ports and hotels in reaction to US strikes has forced Gulf nations onto front lines of a war they want no part in

by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] Washington’s allies in the Persian Gulf have found themselves in a position they have…

A map of Venezuela with the flag colors overlaid within the outline

International March 9, 2026

Venezuela’s fragile environment faces rising risks as US pushes for oil and critical minerals and illegal gold mining spreads

by Antonio Machado Allison, Wesleyan University, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] Venezuela’s Orinoco River Basin is a wild land of lush forests, grasslands and a…

International March 6, 2026

How does Iran go about selecting a new supreme leader? And who is in the running?

by Eric Lob, Florida International University, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28, 2026, set off the process…

International March 6, 2026

Persian Gulf desalination plants could become military targets in regional war

by Michael Christopher Low, University of Utah, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf…

International March 5, 2026

‘Destruction is not the same as political success’: US bombing of Iran shows little evidence of endgame strategy

by Farah N. Jan, University of Pennsylvania, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] Shortly after the opening salvo of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28,…

International March 5, 2026

Operational secrecy kept the US from making evacuation plans – and that means Americans in the Mideast could wait days

by Donald Heflin, Tufts University, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] As the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, American citizens living in or visiting…

International March 4, 2026

Far from random, China’s global port network is clustering near the world’s riskiest trade routes

by Dylan Spencer, Georgia Southern University; Gohar Petrossian, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; and Stephen Pires, Florida International University, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission]…

International March 4, 2026

CIA agents successfully executed a plan for regime change in Iran in 1953 – but Trump hasn’t revealed any signs of a plan

by Gregory F. Treverton, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] When the bombing of Iran began on Feb….

Color drawing of the south side of the White House

International March 4, 2026

Congress once fought to limit a president’s war powers − more than 50 years later, its successors are less willing to assert their authority

by Sarah Burns, Rochester Institute of Technology; Institute for Humane Studies, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the…

International March 3, 2026