Middle Orient

Syria’s Sharaa Arrives in U.S. for UNGA in First Presidential Visit Since 1967

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrived in New York on Sunday, leading a senior delegation to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The visit marks the first by a Syrian head of state to the United States since President Nur al-Din al-Atasi addressed the UN in …

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How Should State Actors Engage with Islamist Insurgencies?

Bottom Line Up Front Western capitals have been urged to reconsider their approach towards — and in some cases, consider engaging with — groups that are, or have been at one point, labeled as terrorist organizations, given how the process has unfolded in Syria, and to a lesser extent in …

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The missing piece in rebuilding Syria: Community engagement

Since the ousting of Bashar Al-Assad, Syria’s transitional government has been racing to project an image of renewal. Nearly every week brings announcements of investment deals, unveiled at high-profile press conferences and televised ceremonies. From glittering real estate ventures to energy and transport projects, these deals are meant to signal …

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After Israel targets Hamas in Qatar, could Turkey be next?

Israel’s attempted assassination of the Hamas political leadership in Doha, Qatar, has shaken the Gulf region, which hitherto believed that Qatar’s status as a US ally and official mediator in the Gaza war shielded it from such an attack. Considering this willingness to attack Hamas in Qatar, Israel could conceivably …

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The ‘Gaza Riviera’ plan: Gentrifying Israel’s genocide

The so-called “Gaza Riviera” plan is less a vision of the future than an obituary written in the language of luxury. Wrapped in glossy renderings and marketed as a leap into progress, it is in fact the culmination of years of deliberate devastation – a scheme to erase Palestinians in …

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How Israel’s aggression revived the idea of an Arab NATO

Egypt is pushing for the formation of a NATO-like Arab military alliance in the wake of Israeli airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar last week. For many regional states, Tel Aviv’s unprecedented military action in Doha signalled that no country is off limits to Israeli aggression. The 9 September attacks …

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Why Arab Leaders Cannot Save Palestine

Across the Arab world, a bitter contradiction has emerged. In the streets of Cairo, Beirut and Rabat, crowds still chant passionately for Gaza and the Palestinian cause. Yet behind the marble halls of power, many Arab rulers have grown conspicuously quiet. The Palestinian cause, once the beating heart of pan-Arab …

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The Lies America Tells Itself About the Middle East: As Its Influence Faded, Washington Dissembled and Denied Reality

On any given day during the long war in Gaza, a Biden administration official could be expected to assert any of the following: a cease-fire was around the corner, the United States was working tirelessly to achieve one, it cared equally about the Israelis and the Palestinians, a historic Saudi-Israeli …

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The Return of ISIS: The Group Is Rebuilding in Syria—Just as U.S. Forces Prepare to Leave

Nine months after the longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad was toppled by a rebel offensive, Syria faces a litany of new challenges. The country, which is now being led by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is contending with recurring violent sectarian clashes, successive Israeli strikes into Syrian territory, and …

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