-
3 weeks ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Ghassan Charbel |Mustafa al-Kadhimi |Tariq Al-Homayed |Abdulrahman al-Rashed
This man does not tire of killing. It is his job, and perhaps his calling. He doesn’t believe in talk about peace. The only rival he can trust is a dead one. “Peace” is an odd word in this thorny part of the world. What they call “peace” is at best a form of fragile truce. It is an open arena to fuel spite and sharpen knives. To deepen spite and incoming blows. Handshakes don’t fool him, and smiles don’t put him at ease. The enemy is the enemy; yesterday, today and tomorrow. Kill him or be killed.
-
3 weeks ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Mustafa al-Kadhimi |Tariq Al-Homayed |Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Mustafa Fahs
Before delving into whether or not to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for next November, the kinds of electoral and political alliances that should be formed, or even the results and turnout, we must take a moment to think deeply about the electoral system. That entails deep contemplation and diligent assessment, especially since November's elections will be the sixth since the fall of the dictatorship.
-
3 weeks ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Tariq Al-Homayed |Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Mustafa Fahs |Hazem Saghieh
Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, leaks about Iran and its nuclear file have not stopped – whether it is what he is saying openly or what is being leaked by his administration or the Israelis or even the Iranian lobby in Washington. The leaks only increased with the second round of negotiations between the Iranians and Americans in Rome on Saturday. Tehran itself, as well as its allies and opponents in the region, have also been behind some leaks.
-
3 weeks ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Mustafa Fahs |Hazem Saghieh |Amir Taheri
Some are preempting US President Donald Trump’s expected visit to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf next month by discussing the promised three trillion dollars, suggesting it should be conditional upon achieving political deals – ranging from Gaza to a Palestinian state, to Yemen and Iran. First, these are business deals, including civil, military, and investment projects – not political trade-offs.
-
4 weeks ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Tariq Al-Homayed |Hazem Saghieh |Eyad Abu Shakra |Abdulrahman al-Rashed
Since October 7, 2023, and in the aftermath of war in Gaza and Lebanon, Iranian-Israeli skirmishes, and the much-touted but ultimately hollow talk of "unified fronts", a new dynamic has emerged. One I would call "converging tracks". Anyone observing the region today will detect a new common thread stretching from Iran to Lebanon, passing through Gaza, Yemen, and Iraq: disarmament. Or, more precisely, the convergence of disarmament trajectories.
-
4 weeks ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Hazem Saghieh |Eyad Abu Shakra |Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Ghassan Charbel
We often read two histories in history books, though one could, for a brief time, eclipse the other. One is the history of wars, which is studded with events like the conquests of Hannibal and Alexander, the Babylonian captivity, the Hundred Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War, and the two World Wars... The other is that of achievements, both material and immaterial alike, in production, trade, institutions, and transportation.
-
1 month ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Jeanna Smialek |Nabil Amr |Hazem Saghieh |Abdulrahman al-Rashed
European Union officials are taking a two-part approach to President Trump’s unfolding trade war, offering to slash tariffs on American-made cars and industrial products even as they prepare to retaliate imminently with wide-ranging levies. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU’s executive branch, said on Monday that the 27-nation bloc would be willing to employ a “zero-for-zero” approach on products including cars, eliminating tariffs on the goods if the United States did the same.
-
1 month ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Nabil Amr |Hazem Saghieh |Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Sam Menassa
Since Israel, and us with it, began to be plagued by the meteoric rise of Benjamin Netanyahu, there has been a consensus around his status as the king of Israel. This is a title that even the state’s founders and its historic leaders were never given. Netanyahu has broken every record in terms of longevity at the top. He holds the record for the longest tenure as prime minister in Israeli history.
-
1 month ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Hazem Saghieh |Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Sam Menassa |Ghassan Charbel
In the writing genre that falls into the “What if?” category, the author presumes the occurrence of hypothetical past events that never happened, and then infers the implications. This is not a futile literary exercise. These texts point to what had, to this or that degree, once been real possibilities, and readers take two things away from these possibilities. First, those non-materialized events underscore the responsibility of those who steered history in the direction it ultimately went in.
-
1 month ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Sam Menassa |Ghassan Charbel |Ross Douthat
For the past twenty days, US forces have been heavily bombing Houthi missile systems, drones, air defenses, weapons depots, command centers, training sites, and the homes of militia leaders across several provinces, including Sanaa. If the operations continue with this level of focus and eliminate the remaining Houthi military capabilities, will that end their existence? And what happens next?
