Hongkong-born political scientist and historian Steve Tsang is director of the SOAS China Institute at London Univer­sity. His expertise includes gover­nance and security policies in China, Taiwan and Hongkong. In his latest book, he examines the Xi Jinping system. Interview: Till Schmidt.

The situation in the Middle East is at the brink of esca­la­tion. While observers are waiting for Iran and its proxies to start their announced attack on Israel, diplo­matic crisis inter­ven­tion is running at full speed in order to prevent a full-blown regional confla­gra­tion. In his interview with Till Schmidt, Ali Vaez analyzes the current situation.

In Gaza, the Israeli army is currently fighting Hamas, while at the same time the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah in the north is at the brink of esca­la­tion. Is there a two-fronts war ahead for Israel? Till Schmidt talks with political scientist Matthew Levitt.

Despite the far-right’s gains, the overall picture remains mixed: signif­i­cant losses on the one hand, record results on the other — including for new far-right parties. Europe expert Nicolas Startin on difficult alliances, the voting behaviour of young people and the future of the Green Deal.

Former Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has been a member of the European Parlia­ment since 2019. As the parliament’s rappor­teur on relations with Russia, he is a point man for promoting and...

Yossi Klein Halevi in an interview about the goals and motives of the far right in Israel’s govern­ment – and why the decision whether to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from military service could lead to the fall of the coalition.

Donald Trump’s recent invi­ta­tion to Russia to attack European allies shook NATO countries. How was this received in Asia? Security expert Chen-Yi Tu in an interview from Taiwan about reactions...

Gershon Baskin is one of the leading voices on the Middle East peace process and one of the few Israelis with direct contact to Hamas. For almost two decades, he was in contact with Ghazi Hamad, one of organisation’s senior political leaders. In this interview, Baskin provides insights into Hamas’ ideology, its often presumed will­ing­ness to sign ceasefire agree­ments and into ways to combat the organization’s cult of death.

A conver­sa­tion between Kerstin Müller, former Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, and Iran specialist Kasra Aarabi about 7 October, Iran as a sponsor of terrorist orga­ni­za­tions in the Middle East, coop­er­a­tion with Russia and the special role of the Iranian Revo­lu­tionary Guards. The EU should classify them as a terrorist organization.

What’s at stake for the US and what impact of the outcome of the midterms will have – an Interview with Clay Risen

The tensions between Taipei and Beijing are also the result of an US non-commit­­ment, according to Bonnie Glaser, Director of the German Marshall Fund’s Asia Programme.

China reacted to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan with military exercises. Christina Sadeler spoke to I‑Chung Lai, a senior adviser to the Taiwan Thinktank about Taiwanese perspec­tives on the visit and...

In Israel, Chinese invest­ments are increas­ingly viewed crit­i­cally, partly because of China’s relations with Iran. On the other hand, China offers enormous economic oppor­tu­ni­ties, according to Galia Lavi of the...

Slovakia is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Europe. After MP Matovic and several ministers resigned, liberal oppo­si­tion politi­cian Michal Simecka demands a fast solution to the...