Kevin Peraino

The United States has a long tradition of helping distant strangers. But many Americans now question our ability to do good in faraway lands. Few places are more remote—and troubled—than this one.

At first glance, the images of overturned tables and blood-soaked walls seemed to tell a familiar story. The setting—Kampala, the laid-back capital of Uganda, during the World Cup championship last week—was new, but the lesson of the latest global terrorist bombings was by now routine: jihadi groups are ruthless, unpredictable, and prone to metastasize. Chaotic backwaters in the Horn of Africa can spawn threats just as dangerous as those in the Middle East and South Asia.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is a loose cannon once dubbed Little Saddam—and a pivotal ally in our war on terror.

Yemen, where the underpants bomber trained for his attack, fights on America's side in the war on terror. But how effective can it really be?

Correction (published Sept. 24, 2009): This story originally reported that Nir Barkat was a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party. Barkat has never belonged.

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's unorthodox approach is winning plaudits from the West. That could be his undoing.

Israel's president, the old hand Shimon Peres, has transformed the office from a ceremonial backwater to a new center of gravity.

The number of Jewish settlers in the Palestinian territories has more than doubled since 1993, but the numbers are misleading. The fastest-growing cohort—nearly one third—are the ultra-Orthodox, who tend to be far less hawkish than the ultranationalists removed from Gaza in 2005.

This week marks intense U.S.-Israel negotiations. So where is Israel's foreign minister?

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is proof of the perils of reining in settlements. He's also proof of why Washington should try.

Can jihadists really be reformed? Closing Guantanamo may depend on it.

Israel's hawkish new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in office for only a little more than a month, yet some Israeli doves say they're already seeing signs of new hardline security measures.

Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has long governed a tinderbox. His party survived armed clashes with separatist rebels in the country's south and Houthi tribesmen in the north.

Acre was a rare oasis of calm. Now hate and fear have taken charge.

Some Israelis find humor in their chaotic, too-close-to-call election.

Never mind Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni. Israelis are chattering about the candidacy of Orly Levy, a 35-year-old former fashion model running for Parliament from the state's hard-right Israel Beitenu party.

Never mind the two front runners for prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni. Israelis are chattering about Orly Levy, 35, a former fashion model running for Parliament from the state's hard-right Israel Beitenu Party.

The war has revived Israel's leftists, but it's killing their chances of a deal with Palestinian moderates.

Tony Blair, now international envoy to the Middle East, on how to stop the fighting in Gaza.

With Hamas under siege, secular Fatah mulls its next move.

Three recent books chart the winding path from Kermit Roosevelt with his suitcases stuffed with cash to George W. Bush's gloomy Nobel Prize prospects.

Can Israel restore its aura of invincibility?

Israel has long been allergic to foreign troops meddling in its affairs. That's now changing.

Outrage over India's handling of the Nariman House siege has given way to a colder calculation.

Israelis and Palestinians seem to realize that a strong international presence will be critical to any deal.

Natan Sharansky fights to save democracy promotion from the wreck of the Bush administration.

One morning this past summer, Barack Obama sat down around a conference table in Jerusalem's King David Hotel with Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Israel's Likud Party.

The country's central banker on Ben Bernanke and the global economic crisis.

Will the global credit crunch finally put an end to the emirate's building boom?

The one thing Mideast talks are producing is more settlements.