Op-ed

  Jordan is in the heart of a tectonic region that faces increased commotion and mayhem. Syrian conflict to the north, which resulted in the influx of more than one million Syrians to Jordan, seeking shelter and security, adding further burdens to its economic predicament and security issues. …

Abdel Bari Atwan There is nothing new about Israeli missiles striking military targets deep inside Syria. There have been more than 100 such raids in recent years. What is new, and unprecedented, is for missiles fired from Syria to reach the occupied Golan Heights, and for Israel’s Iron Domesystem …

Shehab Al Makahleh Disputes in the Middle East cannot be resolved unilaterally. They can only be tackled collectively, through integrated regional and international cooperation. This applies to challenges such as the Palestinian cause, terrorism, Arab-Iranian conflict and other lesser predicaments. Some political observers believe that the Arab-Iranian dispute …

By Shehab Al-Makahleh Economic and financial sanctions have become a major policy tool nowadays against countries that are deemed militarily powerful. Thus, any use of military force would lead to regional or world war such as in the case of North Korea and Russia. The targeted sanctions aim …

By Maria Dubovikova Campaigning began on Saturday ahead of the Iraqi parliamentary elections, which will be held on May 12. Some 7,000 candidates have registered to stand and will compete for 329 parliamentary seats. But how will the elections affect Iraq’s relations with its Arab neighbors? For the …

By Shehab Al Makahleh At a time when relations between the traditional rivals of the US and Russia do not seem well with so many complicated files including the Syrian cause, Turkish President Recep Teyyip Erdogan has been trying to walk on the Russian and American tight ropes, …

By Shehab Al Makahleh Jordan’s King Abdullah II came to power in February 1999 in the aftermath of King Hussein. For the past nineteen years of his rule, he has kept the kingdom stable, despite the hardships and challenges that the whole Middle East region is undergoing, ranging …

By Alfred McCoy  Amid the intense coverage of Russian cyber-maneuvering and North Korean missile threats, another kind of great-power rivalry has been playing out quietly in the Indian and Pacific oceans. The U.S. and Chinese navies have been repositioning warships and establishing naval bases as if they were so …

By Sondoss Al Assaad The Lebanese constitution stipulates that the parliamentary electoral process take place every four years; however, the political unrest during the recent years has delayed this election, rankling voters and galvanizing a campaign to change electoral laws. Per Lebanon’s constitution, it is committed that the …