Analysis & Commentary
Lebanon Smolders
Yesterday, a rocket fired from southern Lebanon missed its target in Israel. Instead it wounded a Lebanese woman, hinting at a possible pattern of things to come.
CNN Newsroom
Hezbollah claims to reveal 10 CIA spies in Lebanon.
Syria Ruffles Turkey’s Feathers
The attack by Syrian regime thugs on Turkish missions in Syria last Saturday has spurred a strong rebuke and warnings from Ankara. However, while this may have been the most open Syrian attack against Turkey, it certainly was not the first, or the most dangerous.
Qatar’s Diplomatic Dynamism
In the entire drama of the negotiation between the Arab League and Bashar al-Assad’s regime over the crisis in Syria, perhaps most intriguing has been Qatar’s maneuvering.
Eclipsed
Until January of this year, U.S. policymakers and American allies feared what Jordan’s King Abdullah II had dubbed the “Shia crescent.”
Not Total Recall
The Obama administration is having a hard time explaining why the US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, has returned to Washington.
Post-Arab Spring Politicking
Analysis of the deal between Israel and Hamas for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has tended to focus on its implication for Israel’s security and on Western approaches to terrorism.
Ignoring the Iranian Threat
The alleged Iranian plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to the United States, and to target the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, has left casual observers, analysts and regional experts shocked.
Iran Terror Plot: Will America Finally Respond?
The Iranian assassination plot is a major escalation in Tehran's war on America. For three decades, the Iranian regime, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, has murdered Americans abroad in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Obama Abandoning Interest in Syria
With the Syrian revolution on the verge of formally calling for intervention against the Assad regime, the Obama administration's refusal to lead will result in the US effectively taking itself out of the picture, and thereby ensuring an outcome detrimental to American regional interests....
The Uncomfortable Reality in Syria
The Obama administration is slowly coming to grips with the uncomfortable reality that its preferred scenario of a peaceful transition in Syria is looking less likely.
Please Remind Us — Why Keep the UN in New York?
When Moammar Gaddafi came to speak as one of the stars of the United Nations General Assembly’s annual opening debate in 2009, he complained about the rigors of traveling all the way to New York, and offered to move the UN to Libya.
How Many Sunni Corpses Is a Church Worth?
It is true that the Christians of the Middle East are a persecuted minority—like all regional minorities, from the Shiites to the Druze and from the Kurds to the Jews. And the Christians are already suffering at the hands of Sunni extremists in Iraq and Egypt.
Among the Believers
Nearly ten years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, many politicians, diplomats, journalists and academics remain reluctant even to name America’s enemies. To take but one example: John Brennan, head of the White House homeland security office, has argued that America is only “at war...
Assad’s Tribal Miscalculation
Despite the escalation in Arab, Turkish and international condemnation of the Syrian regime following its deadly assault on the city of Hama on the first day of Ramadan, Bashar al-Assad has pressed on with his military offensives against Syrian cities.
Taking Out a Tyrant
These leaders, says Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, “will essentially be militia heads, like those who arose during Lebanon’s civil wars.” This leadership will exist alongside notables, sheikhs, doctors, businessmen, and lawyers.
Obama’s ‘Fantasy’ Rejects Bringing Home Envoy from Syria
The Obama administration’s insistence to try to “engage” Assad is a measure of its “fantasy, Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in Now Lebanon.
Leverage and Legitimacy in Lebanon and Syria
However, as Tony Badran writes in Foreign Policy, “The evolution of the Syrian uprising has presented Washington with a unique opportunity to squeeze Assad. The United States has leverage; it has simply chosen not to use it.”
Mikati’s Probationary Period
The reactions from Washington, Paris and Riyadh following Najib Mikati’s designation as prime minister suggest that we are now in a watchful, wait-and-see period. Everyone is keeping a close eye on where Mikati will stand on the key issues, namely the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)....
Iran’s Road Rules
There’s much white noise surrounding the situation in Lebanon, as several actors stir frantically on the margins. Whether it’s France’s proposal for a Lebanon “contact group,” or the Turkish-Qatari-Syrian summit, or the seemingly perpetual talk about reviving the dead Saudi-Syrian...
