World News Insights: Opinion Articles

For decades, observers have said that, in the Middle East, change moves at a snail’s pace. That assumption no longer holds. Just look at the dramatic transformations unfolding across Lebanon, Syria, and Iran in recent weeks and months. One year ago, Lebanon was at war with Israel. Few could have…

The world is changing, the region is changing, and Lebanon is changing, but Nabih Berri refuses to change. He seems allergic to change, or even to the term itself. The 2019 Lebanese uprising against the corrupt ruling clique generated momentum for major political, social, cultural, and economic…

Despite US President Donald Trump’s claims that a ceasefire in Gaza is imminent, we have not seen anything that inspires hope for a breakthrough that ends suffering in Gaza. Israel is proceeding with its genocide as the entire world watches on. Relentless airstrikes, starvation, and the destruction…

On a crisp evening in December 2023, I received an urgent alert: a swarm of unidentified drones had been detected above Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, inside highly restricted airspace. As NASA administrator at the time, I was immediately concerned. Langley is one of the most sensitive sites…

There are fears that what happened in the Lebanese Parliament on Monday, June 30, could be the start of a process aimed at undercutting the constitutional right of every Lebanese citizen, both residents and expatriates, to equality. Blocking deliberation on a law that would have ensured non…

The apprehension of many, myself included, about the inflated stature that Netanyahu’s Israel will enjoy in the region following recent regional developments is well founded, especially since every country in the Levant has either collapsed or been shattered. Still, it would be misguided and…

The rise of Zohran Mamdani, who has won the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City, the largest and most impressive city in the United States, has jolted the American public out of its slumber, which has seemed endless since Trump entered the White House. To avoid drawing hasty conclusions…

Every side in the war has declared victory. Trump announced the attack with 14 bunker-busting bombs and the destruction of three nuclear facilities, and called for a peace deal. Israel described “Operation Iron Glove” – the name of its campaign – as historic. It assassinated leaders and experts…

The latest war in the Middle East was, both in terms of the course it took and its outcomes, resembles an earthquake. This is the latest of the earthquakes to hit the region: the 1967 war, the 1973 war, Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem, the victory of the Iranian Revolution, and the US invasion of Iraq,…

On the twelfth day of Israel’s preemptive campaign against Iran, the war between Israel and Iran ended following US President Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire. Wars typically end once one or more of the parties is defeated and surrenders. They can also end when the warring sides reach a…

Vision Strategies, Economic Diversification Strategies, Transformation Strategies and Industrial Strategies. Regardless of what they are called, the fact is, they are of great importance, now more than ever. Governments are under pressure to deliver for their people. In today’s fragmented and…

According to an adage, the history of any war is written by the victor. This is because the loser is either dead or too wounded to have the energy to write or, in some cases, hopeful of turning the victor into friend. But for that adage to apply, a war must end with an acknowledged winner. And…