hezbollah-israel

Cargo ships in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates, on March 11, 2026.

What We're Watching

Tehran tests Washington’s naval blockade, Spain’s leader visits China again, Ukrainian robots take back land

One day after US President Donald Trump announced that he had started a blockade of ships coming in and out of Iranian ports via the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is already testing those US commitments.

Israel strikes: Why Hezbollah remains silent

Israel strikes: Why Hezbollah remains silent

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: The assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah saw "virtually no response," demonstrating Israel's ability to "strike their enemies with virtual impunity and with virtually no capacity for them to strike back effectively," says Ian Bremmer. This has politically bolstered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from being blamed for the Oct. 7 attacks to gaining more popularity.

Israel & Hezbollah: What to expect next

Israel & Hezbollah: What to expect next

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: This wave of Israel-Hezbollah attacks is disentangled from Iran, and we saw that the Israelis, of course, were able to assassinate the political leader of Hamas, Haniyeh, who was in Tehran on the occasion of the inauguration of the new Iranian president, deeply embarrassing for the Iranians. It's been a month, and there's been no Iranian retaliation despite the fact that the Supreme leader and others in the Iranian government structure had said that major strikes were coming within hours; that's not the case. Iran is waiting for a window of opportunity to avoid dramatically escalating the feud into a region-wide war, same as Hezbollah.