Nadim Koteich

For at least a year now, Iran and Israel have been fighting a direct conflict, after having waged a shadow war for decades. This is more than a regional power struggle; what we are witnessing is an existential war between two regimes as traditional pillars of deterrence erode, creating trajectories…

The recent spike in leaked intelligence assessments warning that the Israeli military could strike Iran’s nuclear facilities should the ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran fall through, is redrawing the red lines around what Israel considers an “existential threat” amid sweeping…

The war between Lebanon and Israel has reared its head once again. This comes after the ceasefire announced on November 27 was extended to February 18. While it was in effect, Israel violated the agreement 1,500 times, and Israel's Defense Minister announced that the occupied positions in Lebanon…

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is returning to Iraq as a geopolitical earthquake shakes the Middle East, depriving Iran of its strategic footholds in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. The first conclusion we can draw is that Tehran does not set the tempo any longer. Meanwhile, the…

It is not fair to compare two absences, just as two presences cannot be compared. Our inclination to draw comparisons seems intuitive, and indeed it is, as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s postponed funeral coincides with the twentieth anniversary of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri…

In light of the immense human and material costs borne by the Palestinians, the ceasefire in Gaza has brought pressing questions back to the fore: Is resolving the problems of "the Palestinian cause" the only necessary gateway to peace and stability in the region? One objective of the October 7,…

Technocratic hubris presents politics as primitive, sentimental, and irrational - a spiral of conflicts and personal interests. Technocrats - the clergy of governance models founded on technical expertise, data-driven solutions, and computational models - argue that purely rational solutions can…

“Damascus overwhelms and overpowers,” as the Syrian saying goes. With the layers of civilization that have accumulated over the city (Aramean, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Ottoman, French, and beyond) it has enjoyed a unique ability to adapt and evolve for thousands of years, becoming a…

Assad's regime has fallen. Syria’s eternal leader, who left the country brimming with prisons, death, and exile, has been toppled. The Syrians have turned the page on the worst chapter in their country’s modern history. This moment can only be one of overwhelming joy for every mother who lost her…

The Biden administration’s position on the recent developments in Syria, where extremist militias led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Al-Nusra Front) are making gains, seems to suggest more than mere indifference to the chaos unfolding there. True, Türkiye is the primary beneficiary of these…