-
3 days ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Jumah Boukleb |Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Nadim Koteich |Eyad Abu Shakra
As an old Arab proverb goes: “With your people, you won’t perish.” Without the protection and support of one’s people, ruin becomes inevitable. A small problem arises, however, when we seek to determine who counts among “your people”, especially to those in power. Does the term refer strictly to one's kin (family, clan, or tribe) or does it encompass all citizens? The difference between the two is clear: the former is defined by blood ties alone, while the latter definition is broader.
-
4 days ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Nadim Koteich |Eyad Abu Shakra |Ghassan Charbel
Iran makes threats, but it will not act. It will not mine the Strait of Hormuz or block it by bombing passing ships. This scenario would backfire and primarily harm China – the largest buyer of Gulf oil – which would lose four million barrels a day. Iran’s enemies – the Americans and Israelis – would be the ones to benefit, because Beijing would adopt an angry stance toward Iran.
-
4 days ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Nadim Koteich |Eyad Abu Shakra |Ghassan Charbel |Tariq Al-Homayed
There is an immense moral and political gap between Israel’s blatant unhinged incitement on the life of the symbolic figurehead of the Islamic Republic of Iran (which the Americans eventually sympathized with after their initial opposition) and calm reflection on Iran’s fate after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
-
4 days ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Eyad Abu Shakra |Ghassan Charbel |Tariq Al-Homayed |Hazem Saghieh
The ongoing exchange of missiles, and the accompanying psychological and intelligence warfare, seems like a foregone conclusion, because all the supposed dividing lines in the Israeli-Iranian conflict have collapsed. These lines collapsed as the possibility of saving the Middle East, alongside the United States and Israel, from an ominous unknown began to vanish.
-
5 days ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Ghassan Charbel |Tariq Al-Homayed |Hazem Saghieh |Abdulrahman al-Rashed
Unprecedented scenes in this terrifying region. In the scorching Middle Eastern ring, three great boxers face off over patches of blood and lakes of rubble. The people of the region woke up to the news that US bombers had struck three Iranian nuclear facilities at dawn. The Israelis woke up to destruction they had never seen since the founding of the state in 1948.
-
6 days ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Tariq Al-Homayed |Hazem Saghieh |Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Amir Taheri
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the region has been constantly criticizing the United States for allegedly having neglected “the day after” in Iraq. It seems the US and the West have become convinced that this neglect had been a mistake, and they now repeat them in the context of the war between Israel and Iran.
-
1 week ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Hazem Saghieh |Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Amir Taheri |Hanna Saleh
Poland is emblematic of the fate of weak countries surrounded by strong ones, which may pay the price of the wars of the strong as well as their agreement. It has been partitioned three times in its history, and, for years, it disappeared from the map. Mind you, a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed in 1385, and it was a formidable and powerful state in the 16th century.
-
1 week ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Abdulrahman al-Rashed |Amir Taheri |Hanna Saleh |Tariq Al-Homayed
Last week, the idea resurfaced that Israel may target Iran’s Supreme Leader – as if he were just another easy military target in the fierce war between Israel and Iran, which may soon involve the United States. US President Donald Trump made a point of distancing himself from the Israeli plan, announcing that the Iranian Supreme Leader is at the top of Israel’s target list and now within their reach. Trump made it clear he opposes Israel’s move and does not support it.
-
1 week ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Amir Taheri |Hanna Saleh |Tariq Al-Homayed |Nadim Koteich
After a week in purdah, “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei broke his silence on Wednesday with a brief and enigmatic message taped in his current secret location. Well, the location may be secret to most of us but not to Israel and its US allies who claim they know where the “Guide” is hiding. This was a strange message. At no point did the “Guide” admit that Iran was facing a major crisis.
-
1 week ago | 
english.aawsat.com | Hanna Saleh |Tariq Al-Homayed |Nadim Koteich |Hazem Saghieh
In mid-1964, President Fouad Chehab was counting the days till his presidency ended. The coalition of parties that supported him had a majority of nearly two-thirds in Parliament, and these deputies visited him to explain that they intended to amend the Constitution so that he could be re-elected for a second term. Chehab listened to them defend this proposal but rejected the offer. He had lost any trust that he may have had in the sectarian political class.