Hassan Nasrallah Has Endorsed Suleiman Franjieh for Lebanon’s Presidency
What Happened? In a speech on Monday, Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, for the first…
Author Michael Young
Beirut-Palermo
Sicily’s onetime mafia order reached its highest state of perfection in Lebanon. All too…
Playing Solitaire
Gebran Bassil has just been humiliated by Hezbollah, but that will likely not end his…
Headache of State
The path out of Lebanon’s presidential impasse remains unclear, highlighting the boundaries of Hezbollah’s influence.…
Defeating the Deadlock?
We may be nearing the stage where Lebanon can have any president it wants, as…
The Failure of Diplomacy in Yemen
The collapse of a six-month truce bodes ill for an already battered country. In…
Can the Iranian System Survive?
In an interview, Ali Fathollah-Nejad discusses the recent protests in Iran, and long-term prospects for…
A New Tool for Tehran
Iran, through Hezbollah, has invited itself into Lebanon’s negotiations with Israel over offshore gas fields.…
Why the Middle East Gets Putin
Watching the Ukraine conflict, Middle Eastern leaders see the Russian president has approached matters in…
The Impending Void
There is no consensus on Lebanon’s next president, and the country is likely to soon…
Past Imperfect
A posthumously published memoir by Fouad Ajami shows that the author never truly broke with…
A Revolutionary Identity
In an interview, Karim Sadjadpour discusses Iran’s grand strategy, the Vienna nuclear negotiations, and more.…
Finally, Some Movement in Yemen?
In an interview, Ahmed Nagi explains what the establishment of a Presidential Council last week…
The End of Hegemony?
Syria is being drawn into a de facto coalition that may aim to limit Iran’s…
Man in the Middle
(Sir Gilbert Clayton anGeorge Antonius (in white suit) with King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud (centre),…
Is the Son Setting?
Saad al-Hariri may not run in Lebanon’s next elections, but writing him off may be…
Open Invitations
By encouraging outside powers to have a stake in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s foes may create spaces…
An Investigation in Lebanon Has Led to Armed Clashes Reminiscent of the Civil War
Spot analysis from Carnegie scholars on events relating to the Middle East and North Africa.…
Pivoting Away From America
Regional and international actors are accumulating cards to engage in a new Middle Eastern power…
Najib Mikati Has Formed a New Lebanese Government
What Happened? After more than a year of waiting, Lebanon has a new government. The…
Gone Boys
Far from being exceptions, botched American withdrawals have tended to be the rule in the…
Enemies in the Gates
Hezbollah’s actions in the past year and a half have turned many Lebanese against the…
Saad al-Hariri Has Withdrawn from Lebanon’s Government-Formation Process
What Happened? Lebanon’s prime minister-designate, Saad al-Hariri, has announced he would withdraw from the government-formation process, after trying…
Building on Lebanon’s Ruins
Hezbollah may accept a new government, but would be as pleased if the country’s social…
Leaving Hezbollah Hanging
In an interview, Frederic Hof recalls how Bashar al-Assad undercut the party’s position on the…
The Shah’s Ride
In an interview, Ray Takeyh discusses his recent book on the reign of the late…
Michel Aoun and Saad Hariri Have Failed to Agree Over a New Government in Lebanon
Spot analysis from Carnegie scholars on events relating to the Middle East and North Africa.…
Message in a Battle
Is Hezbollah undermining its resistance by failing to address Lebanon’s many crises, as the late…
Dead Certainties
As the Biden administration enters office, several assumptions about the Middle East will have to…
Coming Up for Air
A Biden administration may bring crisis-ridden Lebanon a reprieve, even if some things will remain…
Blood and Grapes
In an interview, Michael Karam speaks about a new documentary on wine and war in…
The Investigation That Wasn’t
As a tribunal prepares to announce a verdict in Rafiq al-Hariri’s assassination, the United Nations…
Destroying Lebanon to Save It
Conservative Republicans have unveiled a report that could have terrible consequences for a country already…
Hezbollah’s Suicidal Red Line
The party’s rejection of an IMF bailout may ultimately mean the end of Hassan Diab’s…
Lebanon crisis: the Maronite church is at odds with the state
Beirut bishop’s terse exchange with the country’s Maronite president echoes the Christian community’s unhappiness with…
Hezbollah will find the urgent Lebanese priorities are clashing with its regional loyalties
If the party opts for repression to silence the domestic scene, it might cause a…
Home, Alone
Lebanon’s Sa‘d al-Hariri is facing a growing credibility problem that may prove to be fatal…
Time Is Running Out
In an interview, former minister Nasser al-Saidi explains why Lebanon’s financial revival will be a…
Hezbollah Has Trapped Itself
By trying to preserve a corrupt political order, the pro-Iranian party is now identified with…
Bye Bye Bashir
Just by getting rid of a dictator, Sudan’s protestors (as well as Algeria’s) have ended…
Out We Go
The decision of President Donald Trump to pull U.S. forces out of Syria has, predictably,…
Hezbollah’s role in a new Lebanese government causes a headache for Hariri
New US legislation relating to the Iran-backed group casts a shadow over the future of…
A Poor Judge in Character
A recent indictment prompts questions about the real value of the investigation and trial of…
Syria in Crisis: The Triumph of Politicide
In an interview, Yassin al-Haj Saleh describes how Syrians have been denied any meaning for…
Will Lebanon put off parliamentary elections again?
All the signs are that Lebanon, come May, will postpone parliamentary elections for a third…
Insular West can’t afford to ignore the Arab world
In his inaugural speech, president Donald Trump showed that one thing that would not preoccupy…
Russia, Iran and their conflicting regional priorities
The regime in Iran must have mixed feelings about Russia. Though Moscow was essential in…
Obama’s foreign policy legacy is all over the map
President Barack Obama’s support for a United Nations Security Council resolution opposing the construction of…
Aleppo marks a turning point in Syria’s conflict
With the fall of eastern Aleppo to the forces backing Bashar Al Assad now…
Where is the West’s moral compass?
Among the victims of the war in Syria during the past five years has been…