World News Insights: Opinion Articles

The Ramadan truce between Hamas and Israel that we had been promised does not seem forthcoming. In fact, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yahya al-Sinwar could be dragging the region in general, and their countries in particular, to a dangerous place, as they are accounting only for their own personal fates…

Sam Menassa

It was the year 1952. Ian Fleming sat down and pondered his concerns and skills as a journalist and intelligence officer. So came to life his novel “Casino Royale” that would introduce the world to brilliant Secret Agent 007, James Bond. Bond is a clever, witty and athletic spy. He relishes…

Ghassan Charbel

The matter will not be of interest to those who see politics as the "art of the impossible." As for those who see it as the "art of the possible" and believe that a lot of compromise and half-solutions are inherent to it, they cannot but be struck by the remarks of Democratic Senate Majority Leader…

Hazem Saghieh

The Biden administration has been hit with a wave of criticism following the secret meeting between the Americans and Iranians in Oman, where they discussed the Houthi escalation in the Red Sea. Much of the criticism, which has focused on its lax approach to the Iranians, is justified. This has…

Tariq Al-Homayed

When shopping for any electrical device, we find a label specifying energy efficiency, usually from best to worse, in classes from A to G. Most countries also classify cars and vehicles into categories, according to fuel efficiency and carbon emissions. Likewise, products we buy from the…

Najib Saab

Idlib, in northwestern Syria, has witnessed large demonstrations in recent days, following a series of protests in cities and villages surrounding it, extending to some of the countryside of its sister city, Aleppo. These movements brought to mind scenes and chants of the first anti-regime…

Fayez Sara

Even a year ago some Russia-watchers believed that President Vladimir Putin might end his war on Ukraine with something like a victory in time before what could be his last re-election campaign. However, now as Russians go to the polls no victory is even remotely in sight. Putin is almost certain…

Amir Taheri

When it began "distracting" the enemy "in support of Gaza" on October 8th, Hezbollah was confident that the home front would acquiesce. Indeed, Hezbollah has imposed its decisions on the country. It was assured that the majority opposed its decision to drag Lebanon into a destructive war that would…

Hanna Saleh

Tragedy has hit one country of the Arab Levant after another, and yet a foundational tragedy has been deliberately neglected, despite the fact that many of the others were either linked to it or caused by it. The prominent position that Arab nationalists and socialists have occupied in Arab…

Hazem Saghieh

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made this appeal on X: “Today marks the start of Ramadan, yet the bloodshed continues in Gaza. My appeal is to honor the spirit of the holy month by silencing the guns & removing all obstacles to the delivery of lifesaving aid. I also repeat my call…

Tariq Al-Homayed

About 18 months ago, Donald Trump suffered one of his worst political defeats, when many of his loyalists and handpicked candidates were defeated in a midterm landscape that clearly favored the Republicans. A lot of people — I was one of them — thought that this might be the beginning of the end…

Ross Douthat

The chasm separating Israel and Hezbollah’s assessments regarding the future of warfare in the region is widening in an alarming manner. Hezbollah has tied the cessation of hostilities in South Lebanon to a ceasefire in Gaza, reflecting the "unity of arenas" approach that the axis of Iran and…

Nadim Koteich