On 8 September 2026, the UK government designated five settlers under the existing Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 and announced that it will introduce a new sanctions regime targeting settlements in the occupied West Bank over the next six to nine months, under the powers conferred
War, Empire, and Authoritarianism in the Middle East
Mustafa Aksakal’s new book, The War that Made the Middle East, offers a pointed and relatively succinct (182 pages) reconsideration of the First World War in that region. It comes at a timely moment, amidst wars across the region, and
DIFC Courts Set Aside a DIAC Arbitral Award
In July, we reported on a recent judgment in the case of Oheo Bank v Parker [2025] DIFC CA 006, in which the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court of Appeal upheld an appeal against the Court of First Instance’s
UN warns of deepening hunger crisis as aid reaches hundreds of thousands in Gaza
The UN reported Thursday that the World Food Program (WFP) and its humanitarian partners had delivered food and essential supplies to more than 600,000 people in Gaza this month. However, agencies such as the WFP warn that severe hunger continues
OFAC and State Department Announces New Updates to SDN List and Sanctions Related to Iran
On August 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced numerous actions related to Iran sanctions. These actions are deemed “Operation Economic Outcast” and are meant to align with changes in the foreign
"I have just been informed by the United States Navy that all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz."
“Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed. Through Space Force, we are watching every square inch of the Strait, as we are, also, with Pickaxe Mountain and the already
Rethinking the Hormuz Toll Debate: Can Coastal States Monetize Maritime Security?
“Some reconcilement of remotest mind,
Leaves [H]ormuz rubyless, and Ophir chill.”
Hart Crane (1899–1932)
With the United States waging an illegal war against Iran to reshape the architecture of the Middle East, the architecture of the Hormuz Strait may now
What we are reading… Jessica Whyte and Máiréad Enright
Jessica WhyteAdania Shibli, Minor Detail. Trans. Elisabeth Jaquette. (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2020)Adania Shibli’s Minor Detail is a novel made of two stories of violence and domination, separated by more than six decades. In the first, set during the Palestinian Nakba, a terrible crime is committed
Damascus court sentences Assad to death for the crackdown that started a civil war
A Damascus criminal court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia Tuesday after convicting him of murder, torture, arbitrary detention, and crimes against humanity. This was the first judgment issued by Syria’s own courts against the head
UN experts decry July surge in civilian casualties across Gaza and West Bank as humanitarian conditions continue to decline
UN experts on Monday decried the recent surge of violence and human rights abuses against civilians across Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, voicing concern that the rights crisis in the Palestinian territories continues to deteriorate at an accelerated rate,