World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The Palestinian state is the natural outcome of an international and regional conflict. The war between the Arabs and Israel has gone on for more than seven decades. Without such a state, the conflict will neither end nor fade into the background, no matter how much the ideologues and delusional…

As might have been expected the decision by the Nobel committee in Oslo to grant this year’s Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition activist Maria Corina Machado has raised a storm of controversy about an annual ritual that has been losing luster for years. Critics say the committee chose Ms…

The world is undeniably in a period of turmoil and apprehension. The upheaval can be felt everyday, and they can be seen in the expanding map of conflicts. According to a report released this week by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, there are currently more conflicts in the world than there…

Today, Tehran faces two dead ends: UN sanctions have been reinstated and its domestic legitimacy has been eroding. Instead of redefining its relationship with its citizens through genuine economic and political reform, the authorities have turned to symbolic gestures and discourse, digging deep…

The chronic persistence of the debate over disarming the resistance factions in Gaza and Lebanon is as nauseating as it is astonishing. Given the endless controversy, one would think that there was still hope that these factions could succeed after decades of failure. The harrowing scale of…

It is clear that the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit has joined the long list of contentious issues that predictably stir controversy, whether within our Middle Eastern region or in the broader regional environment and the international community. Each side interprets developments based on its own…

Last week was a watershed: the Gaza Peace Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh and the American president’s address to the Knesset will remain etched in the memory of both supporters and opponents alike. While it is too soon to tell whether President Trump’s effort will succeed, the objectives that have…

“Israel’s arrogance will lead it and the region to disaster. The nuclear bomb will not protect it against rockets raining down from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Yemen and even Iran itself. I am not talking about Israel’s total collapse, but it will be dealt a painful blow. People who immigrated to Israel…

Praise for President Trump’s diplomacy in brokering a cease-fire in Gaza has mostly focused on how he persuaded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to accept a deal. Many assume that Trump threatened to withdraw US support from Israel or otherwise pressured the Israeli leader into…

In the context of the rapid challenges and changes the world is experiencing today, the importance of combating extremism arises as a fundamental line of defense and a necessity for protecting security and stability. However, combating extremism is considered one of the most complex tasks due to…

Many theories of the social contract and natural rights were developed between the 17th and 18th centuries. The most famous among the theorists behind them include Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and, later, Immanuel Kant. Each of them, in his own way, sought to resolve the…

Is there a Palestinian, or Arab, conception of Israel that we can look to for guidance in the future? Could such a notion keep pace with the diplomatic efforts currently underway? Two theories currently seem to dominate the discourse, especially in Lebanon: the first revolves around Israel as …