Middle East

In the past decade, the U.S.-led geopolitics and trade/tech wars have undermined international cooperation setting the stage for stagnation in global economic prospects. Trump 2.0 will escalate the status quo, weaponizing executive orders in the name of “national security.” Over half a decade ago, I first warned about …

The Levant has long been a stage upon which the drama of history has unfolded- a region where empires collided, faiths converged, and civilizations either flourished or crumbled. Far from being a mere relic of the past, this ancient nexus remains a cornerstone of global security and economic …

Eng. Saleem Al Batayneh A society that fails to ask the right questions cannot expect to arrive at meaningful answers, let alone true knowledge. In Jordan, questions critical to our democracy are either silenced or confined far from the decision-making centers that shape our future. Chaos reigns where …

Is Donald Trump a great president? That’s the question posed by John F. Harris in Politico, less in the spirit of endorsing Trump than suggesting that he is nothing less than “the greatest figure of his age.” Trump has now dominated American politics for over a decade. The Biden administration increasingly …

The 20th edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report, released today, reveals an increasingly fractured global landscape, where escalating geopolitical, environmental, societal and technological challenges threaten stability and progress. While economic risks have less immediate prominence in this year’s survey results, they remain a concern, interconnected …

We leave 2024. January 2024 feels like yesterday. Many of our experiences have been wonderful, or sorrowful; some will be forgotten and some will remain with us forever. Such patterns reoccur annually. Some tragedies stem from human errors, deliberate or accidental. Time flies. Let us consider the major …

Iran’s presence in the Middle East has been greatly diminished with the fall of Assad. Now the question is, under the current circumstances, is it possible for Iran to return to Syria? The rule of Bashar al-Assad and the Baath Party in Syria has ended after more than …

In the wake of Brexit and the UK’s evolving global role, establishing an external association with the United States merits serious consideration. Historical precedents, such as Scotland’s 1707 union with England and Éamon de Valera’s concept of Irish external association, suggest that this framework could provide the UK …

Syria’s Transition: The Media Sideshow The lightning rod offensive that toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad invoked memories of the trajectories that manifested when dictators were ousted in Iraq in 2003, and rebellious countries joined the Arab Spring in 2011. Despite severed diplomatic relations and no government-to-government contact, …