Israel is shaping up to be an unexpectedly important energy player in the Middle East, providing the promise of collaboration and economic growth in a part of the world in which both are in very short supply.

In a slight to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey would welcome senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Strippers go to the Supreme Court to defend their right to bare it all in a riotous new play that even a lawyer could love.

The Queen tells voters to exercise caution. The banks are telling everyone to start panicking.

For the Western political observer, Russia judged by common metrics always seems on the verge of being a spent force. As Joseph Conrad reminds us, Russia never seems to vanish from the map, and remains a font of imperialism and war.

The cultural abdication of adulthood that A.O. Scott describes in this week’s New York Times Magazine is real. We risk leaving to our children the impossible task of loving a world that we don’t respect enough to love ourselves.

Despite Venezuela’s vast resources, Chavismo continues to ravage the country’s economy.

ISIS is taking advantage of President Obama’s announcement that the campaign in Syria will be undertaken from the air.

A round-up of prominent reactions to the President’s speech from the Arab press.

Ever in tune with public sentiment, Obama pivots away from immigration reform. But will he pivot away from his new Middle East policies if polls sour by Christmas?