Eyad Abu Shakra

While many Lebanese, along with their brothers and neighbors, are focused on major national and regional threats, a considerable segment of the Lebanese population is currently obsessing over a more trivial side story... An issue that may seem insignificant in comparison to the existential threats…

It is an absurdity of Middle Eastern politics that many politicians and analysts are still betting on the complete elimination of Iran’s role in the region. Even more absurd is the expectation that Israel will drag Washington into this "war of elimination." True, this is the most right-wing US…

Yesterday, in Jeddah, Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers Murhaf Abu Qusra and Michel Menassa signed a promising agreement to end lingering border issues between Lebanon and Syria. In truth, neither the new Syrian government nor the current Lebanese authorities contributed to these issues, which…

A witty Arab artist, when asked: "What message would you like to send to future Arab generations?" ironically replied: "I’d tell them not to come!" This statement has an unsettling implication that reflects the state of the Arab world, which mostly passively receives. The power to influence and…

The new chapter in Syria, which began after it turned the page on 54 years of Assadist rule, could be undermined by the painful developments earlier this month. The new leadership in Damascus, as far as I can tell, was aware that former regime remnants had been present in the region, and of the…

Safeguarding victory is often more difficult than achieving it. That is self-evident, all the more so when powers and factions are eagerly seeking to overturn the shifts we had seen in Syria a few months ago. These actors were caught off guard by the pace at which the shift unfolded months…

Much has been said about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s controversial meeting at the White House, and it generated many images, if not “conspiracy theories.” Nonetheless, the scene was a message to the world, a lesson to those who remain captive to outdated conceptions of former US…

Lebanon has rarely undergone such critical moments since February 2005. Even if they are relatively peaceful, the period ahead will be uncertain and unsettling for the Lebanese. The "chemistry" of the region is changing, and the assumptions that could once be "taken for granted" are collapsing…

US President Donald Trump’s engagements, as well as his statements to the media, have sparked concern in many corners of the world, including Western Europe, where most countries are NATO allies. This alliance had been established on the basis of a "military doctrine" to counter the Soviet Union,…

Everyone following the formation of the new Lebanese government before it came into being on Saturday was eagerly awaiting the fate of the "political Shiism’s" Lebanese branch. Indeed, the status quo was upended by Israel's recent war on Hezbollah and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria,…