Analysis & Commentary
United Nations Covers for Terrorist Buildup
President Obama hosted Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the White House on Monday to talk about the growing threat that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist group, poses to the Middle East. However, if he wanted to address the problem effectively, he should have summoned U.N....
The Shape of Things to Come With Iran
Just as Egypt’s judiciary handed down convictions in the case of a Hezbollah cell that it uncovered, reports surfaced that an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps cell had also been broken up in Kuwait.
America’s “Big Game”
During last week’s stormy hearing on Syria in the US House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, the Obama administration for the first time laid out its Syria policy. Unfortunately, the policy is based on a flawed, old premise that brings Washington awfully close to accepting a...
Peace Talks, Bashar’s War by Other Means
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is known to have a penchant for brinksmanship. Calculating that he has nothing to fear from a timid Obama administration, he is upping the ante in his direct military support to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The latest brazen act may involve the shipment of Syrian...
Born-Again “Resister”
Walid Jumblatt returned from his long-awaited visit to Syria last week a born-again “resister.” Completing the retreat from his previously-held positions, Jumblatt has adopted wholesale the Syrian and Hezbollah line on “supporting the Resistance.” The Druze leader faces potentially...
How Syria Benefits From The Axis of Proliferation
Two weeks ago, a report appeared on the Japanese news site Nikkei quoting Western intelligence sources as saying that North Korea was once again providing "sensitive military technology" to Syria. The report got little coverage in the Western media and came shortly before US the under...
Hezbollah Is Not The IRA
Islamist groups have invited a whole set of analogies purportedly aimed at better explaining them and how best to deal with them. One such analogy that has gained currency in recent years is the oft-encountered comparison between Islamist groups and the Irish Republican Army.
Lebanon’s Next War May Also Be Syria’s
Media reports in recent days have painted dire scenarios for what is, supposedly, the inevitable conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Of particular note are persistent indicators that the next round, if or when it comes, will very likely involve Syria as well...
Hezbollah’s “Lebanonization”
Manuela Paraipan: Why is the Lebanonization of Hezbollah a chimera?
Tony Badran: This is a rather timely question with the recent unveiling of Hezbollah's so-called new political manifesto.
The conventional wisdom and the dominant interpretation of this document, in the media, is...
Iran’s Global Bedfellows
If you listen to U.S. officialdom, Iran is a pariah, cast out by the world community for its sanctions-violating, nuclear-wannabe ways. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just warned Latin American nations that in choosing to "flirt with Iran," they should "think twice." Last month,...
For Hezbollah, Lebanon is an Afterthought
Two things were unsurprising about Hezbollah’s political document, unveiled on November 30 by the party’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, namely its content and characterization in the media.
The Pretense of Reform
Senior officials in the Obama administration are batting around the notion that the Taliban in Afghanistan could play a role comparable to that of Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to The Washington Post.
Hezbollah Is Being Elusive on Wilayat al-Faqih
There is a glaring contradiction between Hezbollah's recent statements about the concept of Wilayat al-Faqih (the rule of the jurisprudent) and events in Iran. The reverberations of the events, regardless of their outcome, are being felt hundreds of miles away in Lebanon, specifically by...
Why Western Media Got Lebanon’s Elections So Wrong
The biggest failure in Lebanon’s election was not just General Michel Aoun.
Living on Obama Beach
"Obama Beach." That phrase was a slip of the tongue by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking last Saturday in Normandy, alongside President Barack Obama and other leaders gathered in honor of the 65th anniversary of World War II's D-Day landing on the coast of France.
Addressing Genocide
The shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum serves as a stark reminder: Holocaust denial is not a problem simply because some people choose to falsify history.
A Looming Crisis In Lebanon?
On Sunday, June 7, the Lebanese held parliamentary elections and handed the incumbent coalition a decisive victory over the opposition, which is led by the Iranian-sponsored militant group Hezbollah.
The Lebanese Elections and Hezbollah’s Agenda
On Sunday, June 7, Lebanon will go to the polls to elect a new parliament. News reports and analyses are abuzz with the possibility of the emergence of a new parliamentary majority comprised of a Hezbollah-led coalition.
Arabs vs. Iranians
Americans like to think big in foreign policy, so they yearn to settle the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation.
Netanyahu and Obama Have a Shared Interest in Iran
Can the United States and its European allies peacefully prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons?
