World News Insights: Opinion Articles

For the first time, Jeddah is hosting a summit between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Central Asian states. Observers expect this summit to engender significant agreements and a qualitative shift in relations between these two blocs, whose geography, economy, culture, and history make them…

We are living through an information revolution. The traditional gatekeepers of knowledge — librarians, journalists and government officials — have largely been replaced by technological gatekeepers — search engines, artificial intelligence chatbots and social media feeds. Whatever their flaws,…

Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, received Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who chose Saudi Arabia as the first leg of his first tour of the region since his re-election for a third term in May. Asharq Al-Awsat's headline of the visit read “Tour…

The militias across the region have turned into factories manufacturing new militias. It is a profession for those without one. These militias were initially combat or security brigades and evolved to become special operations groups or armed factions with structures similar to those of gangs…

The NATO summit held on July 11 and 12 sent many messages. The first was sent through the choice of location. Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, the first republic to declare its independence and withdraw from the Soviet Union, on March 11, 1970. The other Soviet republics born from the…

As soon as Yevgeny Prigozhin mutinied inside Russia, another Yevgeny Prigozhin mutinied abroad. The latter is named Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president who was re-elected less than two months ago. Erdogan’s mutiny, per many observers, came within the broader context of Russian President…

Working closely with a powerful leader, be it Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, or Ali Abdullah Saleh, is no walk in the roses. But the rewards are undeniable. It provides you with protection that even constitutions, which often serve the leader's interests, cannot offer. It grants you influence…

The prospect of international intervention has become the talk of the town in Sudan. The debate rages on in living rooms and on social media. As one would expect, the debates can be very acrimonious. Rivals accuse one another of exploiting Sudanese blood, treachery, taking orders from abroad,…

Cecilia Kang and Cade Metz The Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into OpenAI, the artificial intelligence start-up that makes ChatGPT, over whether the chatbot has harmed consumers through its collection of data and its publication of false information on individuals. …

Both local and international actors are struggling to reach the finish line of the Lebanese race, that is, to find a way out of the Lebanese labyrinth. Some are running in circles, while others have stood still. In the Lebanese context, even standing still is a skill. In fact, it is a skill that…

Is Iran heading towards hyperinflation? Until a few months ago, decision-makers in Tehran would have dismissed the question as another “Zionist conspiracy” against the regime in Iran. Now, however, as the annual inflation curve heads towards the 100 mark, even the “Supreme Guide”, Ayatollah Ali…

Despite two positive developments, Qatar taking the initiative and calling for a “Quintet Meeting” and reports of the French President’s Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian making a second visit, Lebanon remains without a president. This vacuum, which twelve parliamentary sessions could not fill, seems like…