World News Insights: Opinion Articles

Nothing has harmed our conception of the Levant’s affairs, and the affairs of those of us who live in it, more than a succession of theories that sprung from divergent intellectual traditions but came to the same practical conclusion. Sectarianism (along with ethnic loyalties) was the primary…

The powerful leave lasting imprints on the lives of their nations and peoples. These imprints come in various forms—some requiring entire eras to heal the wounds inflicted by their creators. History is not a neutral archive of such legacies. It welcomes those who enter its tunnels but later…

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the growing risk of nuclear war today. Russia is making regular nuclear threats. America is undertaking a large-scale nuclear modernization program. China is increasing its nuclear arsenal. Tensions are escalating between nuclear-armed states. But nuclear weapons…

However different their opinions, ideas, and stances on public or international issues, objectivity remains a fundamental principle that unites all analysts, columnists, and commentators. This principle demands that each and every one of them be careful to avoid ever projecting their sentiments and…

Yesterday morning (Thursday), the 26th of December, the National News Agency reported that the Israeli occupation forces had carried out an incursion into areas south of the Litani River. They entered the villages of Adshit al-Qusair and Qantara, which are close to the Litani River, and continued…

As 2024 draws to a close, one thing is certain across the globe: the pendulum of history is swinging away from the direction it had taken since the 1990s. For almost three decades, it had swung towards what one might call soft left in its latest epiphanies as globalism, political correctness and…

On this month of 2011, the so-called "Arab Spring" began in Tunisia. When Bashar al-Assad's regime fell this year in the same month, it seemed like this "spring" was returning or that a new edition had come to us. If we were to adopt the language of book editions and publishers, we could say that…

Regardless of what we think of "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham" leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, it is difficult not to be taken aback by his remarks about war and peace. He has openly stated that he does not want Syria to fight Israel or become embroiled in conflicts because the task of rebuilding his devastated,…

Last Ramadan, I had a conversation with my colleague Abdullah Al-Bandar on his show, "Mekhyal." The discussion revolved around my professional journey and the political figures I met along the way. My young host asked about my friendship with the former Syrian Vice President Farouk Al-Sharaa at…

Going back to the Syrian issue, it must be said that few of us had anticipated the developments unfolding today a month ago. The chapter on 54 years has been closed in less than two weeks, a massive achievement in every sense of the word. The ease with which the Assad regime was brought down and…

It might be premature to determine the direction that the countries of the Levant are going in. This is particularly true of Syria, but it is also of Lebanon and Iraq. These countries have all been in perpetual freefall, though not in equally apparent measure, and their collapse has toppled the…

The public has already been given the government’s best answers to the latest panic over mysterious lights in the sky over New Jersey. Many Americans simply don’t like a mundane answer — fixed-wing piloted aircraft, smaller planes, hobbyist drones — that implies they are rubes at best and paranoid…