World News Insights: Opinion Articles

Must any pair of would-be great men of history always find a path to conflict? Ask Caesar and Pompey, Octavian and Antony, Lennon and McCartney. But the specific thing they fight about is less predictable. I would not have guessed, six months ago, that Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s version of the…

Ross Douthat

What links the ongoing rift between US President Donald Trump and his “fleeting ally,” billionaire Elon Musk, the visible divergences between US positions and the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and the looming clouds over the approach of the US and Israel to Iran? This question…

Eyad Abu Shakra

It’s been about 150 days since Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam took office. On one hand, Lebanon is experiencing its best chapter in two decades. On the other hand, there are concerns about the slow pace of progress – and that another war is on the verge of erupting. Regardless of whether the…

Abdulrahman Al-Rashed

When General Joseph Aoun was elected President of the Lebanese Republic and Judge Nawaf Salam was named Prime Minister, both developments seemed engulfed in a revolutionary climate. There was a popular mobility expressing itself in all kinds of ways that reflected a broadly shared desire to break…

Hazem Saghieh

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the rise of Ahmed al-Sharaa to the Syrian presidency is the foundational episode of the regional transformation that is currently underway. It may well be one of the most consequential outcomes of the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation and its aftermath or even the…

Sam Menassa

The Lebanese people complain about the advice from ambassadors and dictates from international financial organizations. They believe that the outside was paving their road and goals and setting the means for them. They are annoyed that their country is being treated like a minor, who the world has…

Ghassan Charbel

In the lead-up to the UN conference on a two-state solution — scheduled for June 17–20 and co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France — efforts to ensure its success have been intensifying. Ministerial meetings took place in Paris and Brussels late last month, alongside intensified efforts at the UN,…

Dr. Nassif Hitti

The Houthis resemble a boxer who, whenever he thinks he is about to strike his opponent, finds himself on the receiving end of devastating blows. However, despite his broken nose, gouged-out eye, and the blood pouring from his face, he refuses to leave the ring. Such behavior is met with…

Hazem Saghieh

Will they, won’t they? This is the question that those interested in current talks between Tehran and Washington on Iran’s nuclear program are darting around in the hope of getting a straight answer. Public statements from both sides offer no clear answer. President Donald Trump seems…

Amir Taheri

Sudan’s new Prime Minister, Dr. Kamel Idris, faces formidable challenges as he navigates the most complex and critical moment in the country’s history. Sudan has been ravaged by a devastating war, its economy has been enfeebled, its infrastructure is crumbling, its institutions are decaying, and…

Osman Mirghani

Day after day, Israel makes increasingly clear that it has no intention to make peace. It does not want a comprehensive and just peace, nor is it willing to take modest preliminary steps that could build the mutual trust necessary for more meaningful progress. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government…

Emile Ameen

Israel’s crushing victory in its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon last year is considered one of its military triumphs, ranked alongside the Six-Day War victory in 1967. Meanwhile, its operations against the Houthis in Yemen, so far, have been more theatrical than effective, resembling its 2006 war…

Abdulrahman Al-Rashed