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These Iranian Protests are Radically Different. Protestors Explain Why
Nearly two weeks ago, on Dec. 28, Iranians launched a new wave of anti-regime protest that has yet to subside. Unlike previous generations of protestors, those taking to the streets today are not calling for reform or incremental change. Even though it is hard to assess public opinion from outside the country, it is clear…
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New Middle East: Post-War but Not Post-Conflict
Shortly before leaving my home in Virginia to spend the holidays in Beirut, a colleague asked me, echoing Ronald Reagan’s old one liner from 1980: Isn’t Lebanon better off now than at the start of the year? My answer was immediate — but incomplete. “Yes,” I said. Then I paused. “And no.” That ambivalence might…
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Muslims, Too, Can Honor Christmas
Merry Christmas! This warm greeting will echo around the world these days among the largest religious community on earth: Christians. Many will exchange gifts, enjoy festive lights and decorated trees, and at least some will reflect on what this now-global celebration is really about – the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus Christ, to be “the…
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Squeezed between Two Giants, Lebanon Endures
Silence does the talking While trimming my nails the other day, my manicurist Reem lifted her head and asked me in that quiet, matter-of-fact way that Lebanese resignation often takes: “Do you know what it means to leave your home in the morning and not know if it will still be there when you return…
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How China Gets Its Way in the Middle East
China already wields considerable power and influence in the Middle East. For many years it has been the top trading partner of almost all the countries in the 22-member Arab League. Since 2013 it has been the region’s largest buyer of oil and gas. That clearly isn’t enough for the leaders in Beijing. In the…
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The American Legacy in Iraq
More than twenty years after the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the question of whether his removal was worthwhile no longer attracts significant attention in Iraq. The Shiite Islamist parties, desperate to cover up their own failures of governance, have long tried to frighten the public with the possibility of a return of the Baath…
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Why Troops Won’t be Enough to Bring Peace to Gaza
On Nov. 17, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2803, authorizing an “international stabilization force” for Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the measure, effusively praising U.S. President Donald Trump for his role in getting it approved. It’s not hard to understand why. The resolution is best understood as the clearest diplomatic expression…
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American Jews Traveled to Syria. Here’s What They Found
A few months ago, to my own astonishment, I found myself at the bombed-out remains of the oldest synagogue in Syria. The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue is said to have been built above the cave where the prophet Elijah hid from Queen Jezebel nearly 3,000 years ago. It’s located in Jobar, a village on the outskirts…
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Iraq Has a Chance to Put Iran in its Place
Most analysts agree that Iran’s regional influence has significantly declined in the aftermath of Israel’s fierce response to the October 7 attack. In the course of that response, Iran has lost its historic and traditional Arab ally–Bashar al-Assad’s Syria – to the very adversary it spent years fighting on Syrian soil to defend that regime…
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Gaza’s Future Is Already Here
The Gaza peace plan rests on a deceptively simple chain: an Arab and international force deploys, Hamas disarms, Israel withdraws, a new governing body emerges, and reconstruction begins. Every link in that chain is fragile, and each depends on the others. The two most important links – Hamas disarmament and Israeli withdrawal – now appear…