Dr. Shehab Al Makahleh The recent debate between former president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden in Atlanta, was nothing short of a political earthquake. Broadcasted live from the heart of the South, this face-off covered a vast array of critical issues — from domestic policy to the …
Read More »France at a Crossroads: Macron’s Gamble and the Rise of the Far-Right
Lisa Smith Al-Makahleh The decisions made in the coming weeks of the French general election will not only determine the direction of France’s governance but also resonate deeply within the broader European and global contexts. The 2024 French legislative elections have become a pivotal moment for the …
Read More »A sad and sorry debate
President Biden and former President Trump held their first debate in Atlanta on Thursday night with the election on a knife’s edge. Given Biden’s faltering performance, this may also turn out to be the only debate. Recent polls have the candidates tied 50-50. But 20 per cent of …
Read More »Europe, Palestine, and Transatlantic Relations
The rift over the war in Gaza has made the quest for a unified European foreign policy much harder. On May 28, Ireland, Norway, and Spain coordinated their recognition of Palestine in the hope of accelerating a pathway toward a ceasefire in the Gaza War and encouraging other …
Read More »The Perils of a Split-Screen World
Today’s conventional wisdom that economic nationalism and zero-sum strategic competition can coexist with ample international cooperation on existential global issues is an illusion Editor’s Note: The Red Cell series is published in collaboration with the Stimson Center. Drawing upon the legacy of the CIA’s Red Cell—established following the …
Read More »Joe Biden and the Perception Paradox
Perception is king in power politics. Audiences foreign and domestic take the measure of the leadership of a powerful nation—a behemoth like the United States. How observers gauge the capability, competence, and fortitude of that nation’s leadership determines how seriously they take statements of purpose issuing from its …
Read More »Al Batayneh: The Resurgence of Violence in Jordanian Universities Through Political Parties
Eng. Saleem Al-Batayneh In his seminal work on political parties, French historian and political theorist Alexis De Tocqueville (1805-1859) classified political parties into two categories: those that mesmerize society with their machinations and those that upend society with their ideas. This dichotomy is especially pertinent today as Jordan …
Read More »Al-Makahleh: The evolving global order in the wake of geopolitical shifts
Dr. Shehab Al-Makahleh As the world grapples with the dramatic shifts in global power dynamics, two pivotal events have particularly reshaped the international landscape: the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Russian military operations in Ukraine. These incidents have sparked intense speculation about the decline of American …
Read More »Can Iran be Coerced?
What is needed is sustained and surgical military force that causes the Iranian regime to reconsider its immediate and long-term actions. Israel, unlike the United States, has demonstrated its resolve to respond with force to each and every attack against it by Iran or its proxies. However, it …
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