Samir Atallah

Talk of a federal system has once again returned loudly in Lebanon. In other words, an undeclared partition. The campaign is now being led by men of considerable refinement and integrity. But everyone knows that federalism, decentralization, and other such labels are attempts to soften the…

On September 11, 2001, the men of al-Qaeda wanted to break the West. Not through a prolonged war, but in a single battle. Not on the ground, but high above the earth. One spectacular assault, and the myth of the West and its towers would come to an end. It would suffer its losses in the richest…

In military language, when a town "falls," it means that it is no longer a place where people can live safely. The latest town declared fallen in the South Lebanon war is Ali al-Taher. Since the fighting began, it has been referred to by several names and descriptions, including the facility, the…

There are many nightmares a writer would prefer, or try, to avoid. The worst is to repeat himself, especially when crises drag on and the men at their center lose themselves in their statements and positions, and the world becomes lost along with them. No global crisis has evolved, spread, and…

The political surprises emerging from Damascus are far greater than our ability to absorb or anticipate them. Every time we imagine we have seen the final surprise, it becomes clear that there is no end to the republic President Ahmad al-Sharaa is building over the remnants of Syria's past. Day…

Why do we remember Ahmed Bahaa El-Din three decades after his death? Because, above all, he was a good, humble Egyptian man. Set aside his importance as a writer and thinker and his stature as a leading journalist. What people loved about him first was that he was gentle and kind, one of them. They…

In the fall of 1983, an Iranian-backed force carried out the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut. The bombing caused enormous confusion within the Ronald Reagan administration and was seen as a major challenge to the president. He decided to withdraw US forces from Beirut. Would Washington…

The surprise agreement was given the name of Makkah. In its name, it assumed responsibility for security at a time of turmoil and amid an increasingly volatile global situation. No gesture or initiative was left untried in the effort to ease tensions with Iran. And Iran bombed every one of them. …

The first informal straw poll to select the next Secretary-General of the United Nations officially began on Thursday, with candidates competing to succeed Portugal's António Guterres, who has completed two five year terms in office. The occasion coincided with the election of Egypt's former…

Thinkers tend to view the international crisis we are living through as, above all, a moral catastrophe. Not a political, economic, or military one, but a moral one. So instead of delving into causes, consequences, and strategic calculations, some echo Ahmad Shawqi's famous verse: "Nations endure…