Alex Raufoglu is RFE/RL's senior correspondent in Washington, D.C.
As Russia's war against Ukraine reshapes Europe's security landscape, Estonia is closely watching the Kremlin's next moves. In an interview with RFE/RL, Estonia's Undersecretary for Internal Security Joosep Kaasik discusses why Tallinn believes prevention is Europe's best defense.
With the US and Iran launching fresh strikes in the Middle East, the Strait of Hormuz is back under the spotlight. Naval strategist Joshua Tallis says restoring commercial confidence -- not military force alone -- will determine when shipping returns to normal.
Senate Republican leadership has thrown its weight behind a renewed bipartisan push to impose sweeping new sanctions on Russia that supporters say marks the strongest congressional effort yet to increase economic pressure on Moscow over its war against Ukraine.
As tensions between the US and Iran intensifies, with renewed military strikes and growing arguments around the Strait of Hormuz, global attention has focused on regional security, commercial shipping, and the risk of wider escalation.
Despite renewed US strikes on Iran and attacks around the Gulf, veteran Middle East scholar Francis Gregory Gause argues that diplomacy is still alive, and that both Washington and Tehran are once again maneuvering to strengthen their positions before an eventual return to negotiations.
A bipartisan group of US senators on July 14 introduced the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026, unveiling a revised package of sanctions and tariffs aimed at squeezing Moscow's war finances while seeking to overcome concerns that had stalled earlier versions of the legislation.
As the US and Iran exchange new strikes, military analyst Jonathan Schroden explains why wars often become more violent before peace, how the Strait of Hormuz has become the conflict's strategic centre, and why drones are reshaping naval warfare.
The passing of US Senator Lindsey Graham has meant the loss of one of Ukraine's strongest advocates in the circle of people who get facetime with US President Donald Trump -- but also given an impetus to a sweeping bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that Graham had championed.
Former US Ambassador to Qatar Timmy Davis tells RFE/RL in an interview that, despite the military confrontation, negotiations remain the only viable way out of the crisis between the US and Iran.
US President Donald Trump said the United States intends to blockade Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and collect fees from other countries' shipping traffic as reimbursement. The statement came after a new wave of US and Iranian air strikes in the region on July 12 and 13.
Senior US officials have said that Iran has privately acknowledged it made a mistake by attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz
A bipartisan group of US senators said they had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to advance long-delayed legislation aimed at imposing tougher economic penalties on Russia and countries that continue to support Moscow’s war economy.
The United States imposed sweeping new sanctions targeting an Iranian businessman accused of managing a global financial network for Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and several exchange houses that Washington says have helped Tehran evade sanctions and maintain access to foreign currency.
Despite days of military exchanges between the United States and Iran, Washington insists it remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution. To better understand Washington's posture, RFE/RL spoke with the Heritage Foundation's James Jay Carafano.
Authoritarian powers are increasingly working together across military, economic, and information fronts, even without a formal alliance, analyst Christopher Walker says. He argues democracies need a long-term strategy to counter their growing cooperation.
The unraveling of the 60-day memorandum of understanding (MoU) was always likely to expose unresolved disputes over who controls one of the world's most strategic waterways, Noam Raydan, the William Sudhaus Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, tells RFE/RL.
RFE/RL spoke with Zineb Riboua, a research fellow with the Hudson Institute, about Iran's post-Khamenei power structure, the expanding influence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Core (IRGC), and why she believes growing repression reflects weakness rather than confidence.
As NATO leaders gather in Ankara for a summit expected to shape the alliance's future direction, European capitals are looking to what many see as the meeting's defining challenge: whether the alliance can demonstrate political unity at a moment of profound geopolitical change.
The United States launched a new round of military strikes against Iran and revoked a key sanctions waiver covering Iranian oil sales after accusing Tehran of attacking commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, putting a fragile cease-fire into peril.
US President Donald Trump has departed for Ankara, where NATO leaders are gathering for what could become one of the alliance's most consequential summits in years.
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