World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The American people and the rest of the world will know which candidate will win the presidential election in just a few days. To an outside observer, it seems that the Earth has stopped turning in anticipation of the results of this election. Most of the reporting in the US on the November 5…

Optimism based on wishful thinking suggests that the Israeli military campaign against Lebanon may end “in a short period...” as military and political sources in Tel Aviv are saying. However, the problem, based on readings of the past “clashes” between Lebanon and Israel, is that optimism…

It is not where the Biden administration wants to be less than two weeks before the US presidential election. Israeli attacks with American-made bombs continue to wipe out Palestinian families in Gaza. The war in Lebanon is expanding. And Israel and Iran’s exchanges of direct attacks could escalate…

It was broadly assumed that, with Sinwar and Nasrallah out of the picture, it could become easier to reach a deal that would end the war in both Lebanon and Gaza and allow the 101 hostages still held by Hamas to return to their homes. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has…

More than ever, the Lebanese need to come to an understanding among themselves that complements political initiatives and reinforces diplomatic efforts. That is not a moralistic cliche, as this sense of urgency is driven by the brutality of Israel’s project and its hardening terms, which threaten…

Amos Hochstein, the American envoy to Lebanon, is in a race against time. A handful of days separate the world from the US presidential elections. The US and the whole world are awaiting the name of the new master of the White House. The world reads about the weakening of the West and reduced…

I had hoped this election would be a moment of national renewal. I had hoped that the Democrats could decisively defeat MAGA populism and send us down a new national path. That’s clearly not going to happen. No matter who wins this election, it will be close, and this is still going to be an evenly…

Has reducing tensions and ending the bloodshed in the Middle East, the Arabian Gulf, and the regions around them become a pivotal need rather than a mere choice? It certainly has, especially since we are now at a tipping point. Enough is enough, as they say; even stones are groaning. No war in…

Following the earthquake of Oct. 7, 2023, and the intense shockwaves it generated within Israel and across all levels there, the official and military leadership responded with extreme measures, hastily launching a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip—a territory heavily armed, populated with…

It is late night in Paris when the phone jolts me out of my pre-sleep somnolence. It is a fellow-Iranian who wants to know who I think would be the United States’ next president. As I mumble in search of an answer the distant caller darts: So who will win? “The winner will be the American system,…

Amid destruction and ruin, as bombs are dropped on Beirut and its suburbs, it is certainly misguided to assume that the Lebanese people, in all their diversity, are keeping quiet about their pain "in solidarity" with Hezbollah. Indeed, this is the last drop that made the cup of sorrow spill over,…

In the torrent of talk about "protecting Lebanon," many of us have reiterated that rebuilding our state and its army is what protects us. This claim hits the nail on the head, drawing the lessons that many bitter experiences have taught us. Indeed, it has become abundantly clear that the danger of…