World News Insights: Opinion Articles

History shows us that the Middle East has long been the land of spiritual values. To this day, these values remain the moral system of large segments of the globe. It is in this region that the three monotheistic religions were born. It was on this land that the routes of global trade once passed,…

After the Assad regime fell and the emergence of Sharaa as the new leader, Syrians were inundated with talk of “optimism” and “pessimism.” But, to a large extent, so were the Lebanese, as they had also witnessed a change to their governance. These two concepts, optimism and pessimism, are…

No sane person can think that the horrors unfolding in Gaza can simply be swept under the rug and forgotten the moment the guns fall silent. This war is the kind of cataclysmic event that stretches across time and etches itself deep into the collective conscience. The horror now goes beyond Gaza…

Amid the sweeping changes reshaping the Middle East, debates about the utility of keeping the roughly 40,000 US troops currently deployed across the region. With air and naval bases from Syria to the Gulf, their presence has come under renewed scrutiny following the recent US strikes on Iran’s…

The Agreement on the Regulation of Navigation in Khor Abdullah, which the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait signed on April 29, 2012, offered an adequate technical and administrative framework for dealing with the repercussions of Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, resolving the…

With every crisis our region endures, we sadly find that the only thing evolving in how these situations are handled is the tools of misinformation. It’s as though the profiteers of crisis and deception are eagerly awaiting each new technological advance to further entrench their falsehoods. …

The region has been paying a horrifying price for its conflict with Israel for the past half century. We were told that Israel was a fragile polity propped up more by foreign support with limited domestic cohesion and legitimacy. This portrayal gave rise to a broad range of nationalist, Islamist,…

It’s true that Bashar al-Assad left the palace on the evening of Saturday, December 7, and that Ahmad al-Sharaa entered it the next day without a single shot being fired in the capital. It’s a rare occurrence in history. Even so, the road ahead for the new leadership is neither paved nor smooth. …

Lebanon’s recent response to a US proposal aimed at improving the security and well-being of both Lebanese and Israeli citizens has raised cautious optimism in diplomatic circles. Contrary to expectations, meetings between US envoy Ambassador Tom Barrack and Lebanese leaders—including President…

As bloody crises often ravage our countries, we find ourselves confronted with a bitter truth: our homelands are deeply wounded and lie atop wells of fear. People often tend to paint a rosy picture of their beloved countries. This love of country can leave us susceptible to denial. A tendency…

Syria has been struggling to transition phase under Ahmad al-Sharaa. This phase was supposed to pave the way for rebuilding the state and its shattered institutions and society, but events on the ground points to a completely different dynamic. Sectarian and regional collectives are transforming…

In the hours before Israeli forces bombed Evin prison in Iran’s capital on June 23, posts appeared on social media in Persian, foreshadowing the attack and urging Iranians to come free the prisoners. Moments after the bombs struck, a video appeared on X and Telegram, purporting to show a blast…