World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The attack of October 7, 2023, triggered a chain of events: Israel attacked Iran and a 12-day war between the two countries followed; it escalated against Hezbollah in South Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburb, continuing to strike the party even after the announcement of a ceasefire; operations…

A political climate that is founded on a simple idea is spreading in our region: stability begins from within, and that development is the foundation of legitimacy. This political wave does not raise grand ideological slogans or promise radical shifts in the balance of power through constant…

In 1997, I took part in an international conference hosted by an Arab country and organized by an American institute with global political interests. There, I got the chance to meet distinguished American and Arab thinkers, officials, journalists, and strategic experts. The conference covered…

Gaza has been held under water for 22 months, allowed to gasp for air only when Israeli authorities have succumbed to political pressure. From the outset of the war, Israeli authorities said they would implement what the Israeli Defense Minister referred to as a “complete siege.” Electricity to…

Hezbollah, as we have heard from its leader and lawmakers, remains adamant that its weapons will not be handed over, regardless of the terms and no matter the circumstances. It has supplemented this insistence with threats, both direct and indirect, against anyone with the urge to suggest otherwise…

Hezbollah, through the statements of Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem and its paramilitary deputy Hussein Al-Hajj Hassan, preempted President Joseph Aoun’s recent speech, which reignited the spirit of his inaugural address and affirmed the state’s exclusive right to bear arms. The party also…

The enduring anguish of the kind of starvation that has taken hold in Gaza lives on in personal and collective memory for generations. Starvation also lives on in the body, especially for the young. For children who survive acute malnutrition, the resulting physical and cognitive damage can last a…

Can Lebanon become a normal state again, one that can make its decisions through its state institutions and that respects its commitments in line with international laws? Can Hezbollah acknowledge that the “Axis of Resistance” is no more and that it has no choice but to return to Lebanon and close…

Sometimes questions offer more clarity than answers. So here, (not through social media, where most of them are bots) I’ll pose questions to the supporters of the militias. When it comes to the worst and ugliest form of starvation, which we are seeing in Gaza, the question is: What exactly is…

Seven years ago, I wrote about the “regional rise of Israel.” Today, its presence is greater than ever. It’s behind massive geopolitical changes in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks. After all this, how does Israel now view itself? It’s unlikely that it will settle for its old role; it…

For a region often hailed as the future of the global economy, it’s been an unedifying experience. One by one, Asian leaders swallowed trade accords with the US that are slightly better than envisaged months ago, but more punitive than when they bet on access to the American market as a development…

Additional countries could endorse the roadmap for a comprehensive vision that ends the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through the two-state solution, while leaving questions on the borders of the Palestinian state, settlements, and the fate of Jerusalem to negotiations between the two sides. That is…