World News Insights: Opinion Articles

An Israeli soldier, part of a force that infiltrated across the border, stirred controversy by planting his flag on a hill in the Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras—despite Israel’s presence in Beirut’s skies having persisted for weeks. Before diving into the rhetoric that often dominates our region,…

It might be the first time the Iranian regime has found itself confronting so many complex and difficult questions since it was established in 1979. These wide-ranging questions pertain to everything from the nature of the regime and to its future, which is intrinsically linked to external factors-…

These days my two favorite book-shops in Paris and London are devoting a full shelf to books on or inspired by Hamas’s “Al-Aqsa Storm” October 7 raid on Israel. Some of these books offer various accounts of what happened on that day and could be classed as extended reportages of the kind news…

Iran finds itself between the anvil of war and the hammer of its accumulating crises. The nation's internal challenges are mounting, and if Iranian politicians fail to wake from their negligent slumber, the consequences will be catastrophic—not only for the regime but for the entire region. The…

A year has gone by since the two damned days, but we have yet to hear a single serious and profound reassessment of what happened. Where did the men behind the two operations go wrong? Could they both have been averted? What is to be done now after the fact? Is a retreat that allows us to avoid…

We are facing two stark scenes of posturing and misadventure that have cost Arab countries a lot of pain and destruction. Those behind them are not politicians, but adventurers, or if you prefer, political "thugs." The first scene is that of Khaled Meshaal’s appearance on the first anniversary of…

The assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, preceded and followed by Israeli airstrikes and targeted killings, marks a rare turning point for Lebanon and the entire Middle East. For nearly three decades, Nasrallah embodied Hezbollah’s rise and its transformation into a massive military,…

On the ground, Sinwar has achieved for Israeli extremists what the hardline Israeli leaders like Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, and even Ariel Sharon couldn’t. Sharon, who withdrew from Gaza in 2005, dismantled settlements, and handed the territory over to the Palestinian Authority. Why did…

I do not doubt, not for a moment, that terror and pain are grinding the displaced who are overwhelmed by fear for the future in both Lebanon and Palestine. It is obvious that their nightmare is perpetuated by the absence of even a glimmer of hope for a collective Arab initiative that yields…

The year 1982 might be when the national basis of Lebanese politics broke. Indeed, this basis had never been solid, and they had always been vulnerable to breaches. However, it was in 1982 that another fully-fledged political system emerged both theoretically and practically, swiftly overwhelming…

On October 7, 2023, Yehya al-Sinwar achieved half of his old dream. He dealt Israel an unprecedented blow to force it to release tens of thousands of Palestinian prisoners. The world was shocked by the extent of the surprise. Sinwar managed to reach that day due to several factors. Among them was…

In the aftermath of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, it was clear that Iran was trying to save Hezbollah. However, after a series of other assassinations—both confirmed and nearly confirmed—it is evident that the situation has changed. Iran is now defending itself, not Hezbollah. I…