World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The region has been living in chaos since October 7, 2023. Political irresponsibility has prevailed, as military escalation continues, undermining security and stability in the air, at sea, and even in the border areas of every Arab country. Everything has been used in our region: militias, drones…

My newsroom colleagues Jason Horowitz and Gaia Pianigiani have a lovely report this week about family-friendly policies in the Italian province of Alto Adige-South Tyrol, which has the highest birthrate of any region in an aging, depopulating Italy. Their story is a portrait not just of a…

In my estimation, three categories of conspiracy theories shape our mindsets. Before listing them, we must understand what makes conspiratorial thinking so mesmerizing. It is a psychological mechanism that comforts the individual- or nation- by absolving them of responsibility and putting all the…

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, newsrooms across the world scrambled to send their reporters to the front lines. Journalists gave the international public firsthand experience of the conflict. Air raid sirens blared during live on-air reports. Reporters flinched at nearby explosions. They…

It was an extremely brief but very loud battle. It took Iran two weeks to retaliate against Israel, and Iran achieved nothing. Not a single roof fell, and the Israelis did not suffer a single casualty. A lot of suspense was generated in the build-up to the attack. Israel's targeting of the Iranian…

Putting to one side the catchy, upbeat rhetoric about “shaking the ground under the feet of the Zionists,” “undermining the foundations of occupation” and so on, Iran’s response to the consulate strike can be interpreted in one of two ways: * One is that this was a military failure. The attack…

John Bolton has called for Israel to respond to Iran’s massive, failed weekend missile barrage by destroying its nuclear fuel facilities. In one sense, that’s no surprise; the former US national security adviser has rarely seen a problem he didn’t think could be bombed into submission. Yet he’s far…

The Iranian regime’s comical retaliation against Israel was a costly strategic mistake that cannot be easily or quickly corrected. Tehran launched about 300 drones and a few missiles without inflicting significant damage. Its strategic mistake was to focus more on safeguarding its image than its…

We were surprised when inflation rose. We were surprised when inflation fell. And we were surprised again when inflation stopped falling. The message of all these surprises is that we — including professional economists — really don’t have a strong grasp on why prices go up and down. The…

I know in advance, given the tense— if not explosive— current political circumstances, that this article will be condemned in some quarters, and be met with bewilderment and discomfort in others. Nonetheless, anything less than a blunt conversation would be inappropriate. The region finds itself in…

It is perhaps acceptable, during national wars, to calibrate cultural life to wartime necessities. Accordingly - and only as an exception and for a limited period of time - some expressions seen to potentially benefit the side fighting the nation and its people could be banned. However, it is…

The night of April 13-14, 2024 has taken up a distinguished position in the memory of the region. It has been a long time that newsrooms were so fervent to learn the latest developments. Perhaps the night of March 19-20, 2003 - when American rockets rained down on Baghdad to oust Saddam Hussein -…