Assessing Lebanon’s Political Paralysis, Economic Crisis, and Challenges for U.S. Policy
A former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs diagnoses the country’s incapacitated institutions…
Browsing: Headlines
US investigates Qatar over claims that it finances Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps
by Benjamin Weinthal and Jonathan Spyer JERUSALEM — The State Department has opened an inquiry into…
The Truth Behind Turkey’s Sudden Embrace of Israel
(Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom at a 2003 meeting in Ankara with Recep Tayyip Erdogan,…
Open letter to (Lebanese) expats: You’re here ? We’re all (so) done…
I know you pity us, but we can’t take it anymore… your pity. It is…
In Lebanon, the Wheels of Justice Do Not Grind
The Hariri tribunal hasn’t led to a single arrest, so Washington should let it expire…
Saad al-Hariri Has Withdrawn from Lebanon’s Government-Formation Process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…
Supporting Sudan’s Essential but Risky Progress
Since experiencing major upheaval and demands for change in 2019, the country has achieved real…
The U.S. and Iran near a breaking point
Iraqi mourners attend the funeral of a Hashd al-Shaabi fighter Monday following U.S. airstrikes on…
Karim Sadjadpour: What’s Next for the Islamic Republic?
Karim Sadjadpour analyzes the implications of the Iranian presidential election held on June 18. …
Maneuvering Jerusalem’s future: Upcoming DC visit puts wind in Jordanian monarch’s sails
US President Joe Biden may have little appetite for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking but seems determined to…
‘Human rights activists’ who love tyrants
Killed by Palestinian Authority for opposing its tyranny, Banat supported brutal Assad Arab intellectuals…
Building on Lebanon’s Ruins
Hezbollah may accept a new government, but would be as pleased if the country’s social…
Preserving the Lebanese Armed Forces Amid State Decline
Although continued pressure on the country’s political elites is necessary, the U.S. government needs to…
Only Palestinians can be victims
Tunis, 2018 — Yours truly, third from left, and Husham al-Hashim, who was gunned down…
Ex-premier’s graft case a test of justice in oil-rich Kuwait
BY ISABEL DEBRE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE – In this July 20, 2016 file photo, Kuwaiti Minister…
Winning the Gaza Ceasefire: Critical Decisions for the Biden Administration
Hamas may not have realized it when firing its first salvo against Jerusalem, but the…
How important is the Dome of the Rock in Islam?
After its history was manipulated, shrine rarely attracted Islamic attention Reporting on Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa…
EEAS special report update: short assessment of narratives and disinformation around the Covid-19 pandemic (update December 2020 – April 2021)
Disinformation around the COVID-19 pandemic, measures taken to contain it and vaccine roll-out campaigns continues…
Europe and Islam: The Jewish Grand Sanhedrin as example
The main body of the following article was published by Middle East Transparent on April…
The Zarif Tape: Revelations on Russia, the Qods Force, and Iran’s Election
The foreign minister had much to say about the IRGC branch’s political interference at home…
Turkish, not Saudi, Schoolbooks Under Scrutiny
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In a sign of the times, Turkish schoolbooks have replaced Saudi texts as…
Iran’s Foreign Minister, in Leaked Tape, Says Revolutionary Guards Set Policies
Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, described a rivalry with a powerful and widely…
Biden recognizing the Armenian genocide shows how far Turkey and Erdogan have fallen
I have tracked U.S.-Turkey ties since 2002. In the past, when a new president was…
Exclusive: Zarif Claims Soleimani Intervened In Diplomacy, Russia Wanted To Destroy JCPOA
Iran International TV has gotten hold of an audio recording in which Iran’s Foreign Minister…
Was the Deputy Head of the Iranian Quds Force Assassinated?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:Muhammad Hejazi, deputy head of the Iranian Quds Force, is reported to have died…
Lebanese church patriarch wants direct talks with Hezbollah on making country ‘neutral’
Natasha Turak@NATASHATURAK KEY POINTS “I assert that there has been no sincere and clear position…
Israel’s Shadow War With Iran Doesn’t Have to Strain Relations With the U.S.
A Shared Nuclear Policy Is Better for All Sign in and save to read…
Bibi “Natanzyahu” Plays Bad Cop on Iran
Washington’s conspicuous silence over the nuclear sabotage at Natanz no doubt stems from the fact…
Leaving Hezbollah Hanging
In an interview, Frederic Hof recalls how Bashar al-Assad undercut the party’s position on the…
French-German Proposals to Rebuild Beirut Port: Policy Implications
Whoever winds up spearheading the reconstruction effort, Washington should stay on top of them to…
Novaya Gazeta Correspondent El-Hayek: Hizbullah Told by Moscow Not To Interfere In Russia’s Syrian Settlement Push
On March 15, 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a meeting with the…
Putin Prioritizes Syria. Biden Should Too.
Moscow has intensified its military deployments in sensitive areas and continued its counterproductive diplomatic track,…
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.…
Lebanon’s Financial Collapse: A Post-Mortem
Police line up outside the headquarters of the central bank during an anti-government demonstration in…
Is Russia Trying to Play Kingmaker in Lebanon?
For Moscow, Lebanon, a strategic country on the Mediterranean, is an important extension of Putin’s…
Maariv: Attacks against Iranian vessels cost Hezbollah $1 billion over 3 years.
Israel has carried out dozens of attacks against Iranian ships throughout the Middle East, a…
Our presence in Iraq remains a vital US national security interest
When serving as Assistant Secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs in early 2020, I…
Message in a Battle
Is Hezbollah undermining its resistance by failing to address Lebanon’s many crises, as the late…
Middle East Policy from Trump to Biden: Views from Inside the State Department’s Near East Bureau (updated)
The former assistant secretary of state in charge of the Middle East portfolio…
The Pope Meets the Ayatollah
The Vatican’s outreach to Iraq is laudable in its goal of decreasing religious violence, but…
The Syrians in Berlin taking on the Assad regime
The story of two Syrian exiles – Anwar R, 58, and Anwar al-Bunni, 61 (pictured) –…
Don’t Expect Russia to Help Save the Iran Deal
In seeking to salvage the JCPOA, Biden should not assume cooperation from Moscow, but instead…
Real to Reel: Interview with German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff
In an interview, German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff recalls the movie he shot in Lebanon at…
Olympic powerbroker to go on trial in Geneva in forgery case
Olympic powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah will go on trial in Switzerland this month in…
The Assad Regime Has Failed to Restore Full Sovereignty Over Syria
By ceding control of its borders and airspace to various foreign actors, the regime has…
Abraham’s Missing Child: Christians
Jews and Muslims make peace, but this endangered minority lacks a regional voice. The…
Murdered activist Lokman Slim was facilitating a Hezbollah defection before death
Lebanese activist and Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim. (Twitter) The death of Shia anti-Hezbollah activist Lokman Slim was…
The expulsion of Jews from Arab countries and Iran – an untold history
This op-ed was written by WJC Jewish Diplomatic Corps member Andrea Mifano, was orginally published…
What’s Fuelling Lebanon’s Lockdown Protests?
Rioting has rocked Lebanon’s second city of Tripoli for four straight nights, with protesters torching…
Russian Military Specialist Mikhail Khodarenok: ‘No One In Moscow Is Going To Fight Israel Because Of Strikes On Iranian Targets In Syria’
Gazeta.ru’s military correspondent Mikhail Khodarenok responds to an analysis by Panagiotis Nastos in the Greek…