World News Insights: Opinion Articles

In the hours before Israeli forces bombed Evin prison in Iran’s capital on June 23, posts appeared on social media in Persian, foreshadowing the attack and urging Iranians to come free the prisoners. Moments after the bombs struck, a video appeared on X and Telegram, purporting to show a blast…

Terrorism is defined differently in different societies. The French scholar Christophe Boutin defines it as “acts of violence targeting innocent civilians, intended to create a climate of insecurity in order to achieve political objectives.” American writer Walter Laqueur defined it as the…

From Lebanon to Iraq and Syria, calls for shutting down non-state militancy are growing louder. Stances on this phenomenon in Sudan reflect a clear double standard. Instead of demanding the disarmament of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the settlement currently being promoted entails reaching a…

Nothing undermines Lebanon’s safety more than its authorities’ indecision and their lack of progress on two fronts: monopolizing arms in the hands of the state and enacting reforms. Not only will paralysis deprive Lebanon of a rare opportunity to recover if it continues, it could, following…

Even after President Trump announced sweeping global tariffs in April, some investors and supporters comforted themselves by arguing that the president’s goal was still to open global markets, not close them off. The belief, promoted by Mr. Trump himself, was that he was using his tariffs as a…

A few days ago, an Israeli website quoted what it called a source "close to Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa" as saying that Syria had demanded that Israel cede control over at least a third of the Golan Heights. One of the two potential scenarios for this "deal" would see “the Lebanese…

It must have been difficult for Hezbollah to watch the public ceremony in which the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters burned their rifles with their own hands. The scenes symbolized the termination of a long armed struggle in the region, quietly introducing a new era that compels…

When future historians study the arc of American foreign policy, they will probably fold all the major events since 2020 — our pell-mell withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran — into a unified narrative of global conflict. If…

The talk of a new Middle Eastern “deal” we have been hearing over the past few days is jarring. The agreement reportedly being cooked up sees Syria cede the Golan Heights to Israel... in return for the Lebanese city of Tripoli. The “official” reactions of Lebanese parties, of course, mixed…

I once asked a man who had worked in Saddam Hussein’s palace whether he had ever heard him swear. “No, he did not have a habit of swearing. He would fall silent when he became angry, but sparks would flash in his eyes; whenever he accused someone of treason, betrayal, or embezzlement of public…

Syria is facing the most severe water crisis in modern history. All of Syria’s provinces have suffered, albeit to varying degrees, and it has had impacts on the majority of Syrians if not all of them. In characterizing the water crisis, it can be said that it is comprehensive. It is a major…

Both are undeniably criminal acts. The former, perpetrated by ISIS, was universally condemned. While there remains some doubt, Hezbollah was probably behind the latter. However, both are grounded in a troubled relationship with the past. ISIS has been overwhelmingly condemned by mainstream Sunni …