World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The economic repercussions of the war on Iran could haunt US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party and hurt them in the Midterms even if the conflict ends this month. While analyses that emphasize how the American economy is better placed than others to absorb energy price shocks are not…

After the failure of negotiations in Islamabad, the next move is Washington's to make. It now faces a different set of challenges. The first is deciphering Iranian code: not every "yes" is an affirmation, and not every "no" is a definitive rejection. Any time Iran replies in the negative, it…

Donald Trump glances at his clock. He doesn’t like long wars. He realizes how dangerous they are. He knows a war is risky as midterm elections approach. He also doesn’t like to lose or even admit defeat. He believes that he was victorious in the war. Nothing remains but to translate the victory…

Is the Iranian regime entitled to impose financial levies on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz? The direct answer: no. International maritime law rejects this. Common sense rejects it. The world rejects it. And the Sultanate of Oman, Iran’s other neighbor on the Strait of Hormuz, rejects it…

I have the impression that most of the discourse around efforts to defuse tensions in our region is underpinned by wishful thinking and deliberate ambiguity, not tangible realities and serious commitments. Personally, I do not doubt that only a small minority of regional players reject peace. I…

Those who push the idea that the root of the conflict is sectarian, that our disagreements are a Shiite-Sunni divide, help Iran more than anyone else. Without realizing it, they fall into a trap carefully set by the Iranian regime to fragment societies, divide them, and turn a political conflict…

In hard times, friends visit one another, take counsel and offer help. A month ago, the British Foreign Secretary visited Saudi Arabia; ten days ago, the Minister of Defense visited and today the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer is here. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was here before the New…

In the calculus of domestic politics, Tehran claims victory, relying on the premise that the regime did not fall, despite the opacity surrounding its hierarchy and decision-making process. It is as though it has adopted the same logic as the armed groups it created in neighboring countries, through…

Here we go again! Another ceasefire in a war between Iran and the United States 47 years ago when a ragtag gang of juvenile revolutionaries raided and occupied the American Embassy in Tehran and took its 66 diplomats hostage for 444 days. The next clash came when President Jimmy Carter…

Across the world, an unprecedented, and almost inexplicable, phenomenon is spreading: a language of violence and recklessness, especially in countries that pride themselves on “refinement” and the “rule of law.” This loss of restraint has reached astonishing levels, in both conservative and liberal…

Since April 9, 2003, Iraq has undergone one crisis after another. They all have one thing in common. Crises used to be managed with the intention of finding a way out; today, however, they are managed with the intention of survival amid the chaos in our region. This difference between yesterday and…

Has Iran ceased to be the Iran it had been the day before yesterday? My assessment might be premature. Negotiations have yet to begin and American aircraft carriers have not returned to their bases; and this is a two-week ceasefire. Even so, Iran has probably fundamentally changed for two main…