World News Insights: Opinion Articles

Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, leaks about Iran and its nuclear file have not stopped – whether it is what he is saying openly or what is being leaked by his administration or the Israelis or even the Iranian lobby in Washington. The leaks only increased with the second round of…

Some are preempting US President Donald Trump’s expected visit to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf next month by discussing the promised three trillion dollars, suggesting it should be conditional upon achieving political deals – ranging from Gaza to a Palestinian state, to Yemen and Iran. First, these…

Between Aoun's insistence on the state monopolizing arms and Hezbollah reverting back to its position on maintaining its arms, reproducing its previous taboos and reiterating the notorious threat “to cut off the hand that reaches for the weapons,” Lebanon (its state, people, sectarian and political…

A few days ago, on the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Lebanese war, the culture of shirking responsibility for this conflict beamed once again. Several writers and observers have pointed to some manifestations of this culture whose prevalence has not been hindered by its corruption. The…

It was barely a month ago when TV watchers across the globe saw a show in which new US president Donald Trump treated visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as one of those voodoo dolls made for pushing needles into thus dodging a curse. After the show TV talking heads speculated that…

The moment Naim Qassem publicly and explicitly approved the ceasefire agreement, before Amos Hochstein even landed in Tel Aviv, he was, in effect, admitting to the collapse of Hezbollah’s project. The party’s insistence on securing a binding ceasefire agreement, even while Israeli forces remained…

Since October 7, 2023, and in the aftermath of war in Gaza and Lebanon, Iranian-Israeli skirmishes, and the much-touted but ultimately hollow talk of "unified fronts", a new dynamic has emerged. One I would call "converging tracks". Anyone observing the region today will detect a new common…

We often read two histories in history books, though one could, for a brief time, eclipse the other. One is the history of wars, which is studded with events like the conquests of Hannibal and Alexander, the Babylonian captivity, the Hundred Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War,…

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…

Twelve years ago, former US President Barack Obama’s team and Iran began secret negotiations that lasted two years and led to what became known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). It was implemented for three years before President Donald Trump came into office and courageously tore…

The Houthi youth cannot believe what he is reading. Positive messages have emerged from the Iranian-American meeting in Muscat. He had never expected that the supreme leader would allow Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi to meet with Steve Witkoff – the envoy of the man who ordered the killing of…

As the United States and Arabs are trying to convince Lebanon on the importance of state - and not Hezbollah – control over weapons and without imposing sanctions, the party continues to procrastinate with flimsy excuses, despite the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel. In contrast, the…