The Cradle The Cradle is an online news magazine covering the geopolitics of West Asia from within the region
Hello to The Cradle The Cradle will commence tentatively at first, to give ourselves the space to find what works, and to build up a stable of bold, well-respected journalists and experts These are not so easy to find in the English-language as they have not had a platform before
Israeli army admits civilians make up 80 percent of those killed in . . . The Israeli military has admitted that more than 80 percent of the people killed in the attacks on Gaza since Israel breached the ceasefire two months ago are uninvolved civilians, Hamakom reported on 13 May In response to a request from the Hebrew magazine, the office of the Israeli military's spokesperson stated that 500 of the 2,780 killed in the Gaza Strip as of Tuesday are “terrorists ”
SWIFT’s decline: How global powers are escaping the dollar trap Photo Credit: The Cradle The weaponization of global finance has become a cornerstone of US foreign policy Central to this has been Washington’s control over the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a financial messaging service once considered a neutral platform but now openly used to enforce western
Return of the trigger mechanism threatens to collapse Iran nuclear . . . Photo Credit: The Cradle In the past two weeks, the UK, France, and Germany have spearheaded a coordinated effort before the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors to declare Iran non‑compliant, and set the stage for UN snapback sanctions under Articles 36–37 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA ) – also
Beirut airport records highest number of arrivals in six years Passenger traffic at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut surged in May 2025, marking the highest number of arrivals for that month since 2019, Al-Akhbar reported on 9 June The airport recorded 560,050 passengers in May – an increase of 10 26 percent compared to May 2024, when 507,892 travelers used the airport
Tom Barrack’s ‘Sykes-Picot’ mandate: Redrawing West Asia for Empire Photo Credit: The Cradle Tom Barrack, a 77-year-old businessman and close confidant of US President Donald Trump, is no ordinary envoy His appointment as both US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy to Syria places him at the heart of Washington’s newest strategy in West Asia
Arab diplomats condemn Israel for barring West Bank visit The foreign ministers of five Arab countries who had planned to visit the occupied Palestinian West Bank this weekend condemned Israel's decision to block their plans The Jordanian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 31 May saying the ministers condemned "Israel's decision to ban the delegation's visit to Ramallah (on Sunday) to meet with the president of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud
Yemen targets USS Harry Truman twice in 24 hours The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) targeted Washington’s aircraft carrier the USS Harry Truman twice in 24 hours, in response to the deadly US–British attack against Yemen over the weekend “For the second time within 24 hours, the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman was targeted in the northern Red Sea with a number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in a clash that lasted
Return of the Ikhwan: Erdogan reboots the Muslim Brotherhood in West Asia Photo Credit: The Cradle During the so-called Arab Spring, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan envisioned reviving Neo-Ottoman ambitions through ideological alignment with the Muslim Brotherhood But as Brotherhood-linked movements faltered, especially after Egypt’s 2013 coup, those plans were shelved