Political Opinions

• PPolitics & GovernanceScholars say lobby or build depending on context; only nusrah (military backing) transfers ruleThe Justice Council finds no fixed choice between lobbying and building institutions, finds no contradiction between doing both, and says force won Syria's transition only because its army split and Turkey sheltered the victors.
• PPolitics & GovernancePower gap, Iran's strategy and Muslim states' hedging left Palestine unliberated, analysis findsThe analysis finds the Axis lost to a US-backed Israeli power gap and fought on Iran's terms. Muslim states hedged, and few wrote measures against the occupation into their own law.
• WWealth & EconomicsPetrodollar's US-Gulf security bargain frays as Hormuz closure favors outsiders over Gulf statesOil's dollar pricing rests on a fraying US-Gulf security bargain, and the Hormuz closure is pressuring the US and its allies more than helping Washington, with no binding fix yet in place.