Israelis watch intently as Syrian rebels approach Golan Heights border
Fate of Druze minority a source of growing concern on both sides of ceasefire line as Islamist fighters close in on Bashar al-Assad’s southern strongholds The top of Mount Hermon bristles with the...
View ArticleFrom Deep State to Islamic State by Jean-Pierre Filiu
French academic lays bare the machinations of the ‘security mafias’ behind the Arab counter-revolutions and their ‘evil twin’ of militant jihadism“If you think you understand Lebanon, you haven’t been...
View ArticleTehran embassy re-opening will test troubled UK-Iran relations
Britain and Islamic Republic moving to restore normal diplomatic service in both capitals after ‘historic’ nuclear deal promises a return from isolationTehran’s Ferdowsi Avenue commemorates Iran’s...
View ArticleHopeless in Gaza?
In the year since the 2014 war ended little has happened to change the conditions that will inevitably lead to another one, warns a new reportThe International Crisis Group has a deserved reputation...
View ArticleHistory lurks behind the bloody headlines from the Holy Land
Journalists have to provide context to overcome furious partisanship and irreconcilable narratives around violence in Israel and PalestineIt’s not news that covering Israel/Palestine is one of the...
View ArticleIran and Saudi Arabia ramp up hostile rhetoric to new levels
Riyadh and Tehran have thrown diplomatic niceties to the wind and are attacking each other without restraint over Syria and YemenThe propaganda war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, bitter rivals on...
View ArticleMiddle East still rocking from first world war pacts made 100 years ago
The agreements that shaped the region may be forgotten in the west, but in the Middle East their significance still looms largeIn an idle moment between cocktail parties in the Arab capital where they...
View ArticleVoice of Israel by Asaf Siniver – a new biography of Abba Eban
New study of virtuoso speaker who laid the foundations for decades of diplomacy designed to resist pressure over the Palestinian questionHalf a century ago, Abba Eban was known as “the Voice of...
View ArticleNimr al-Nimr street, Tehran: signpost for troubled Iran-Saudi ties
Will national, strategic and sectarian rivalry between the Gulf powers give way to a better relationship under a strengthened President Rouhani?Tehran’s diplomatic quarter, in the north of the capital,...
View ArticleHoly Lands: Reviving Pluralism in the Middle East by Nicolas Pelham
Sectarianism is the hall-mark of the deadly collapse of the Arab nation-state, argues a thought-provoking new book. The Ottomans managed better.It’s hardly surprising, given the mayhem and misery...
View ArticleBahrain faces rare US pressure over jailed rights activist
The case of Zainab al-Khawaja has highlighted the issue of western influence over repression and human rights abuses in the Gulf island stateZainab al-Khawaja, the Bahraini political activist, is still...
View ArticleThree out of four Syrians believe a political solution can end the war
Rare polling shows that 60% believe the influence of the jihadis of Islamic State has decreased in the last six months Five years into the war that is tearing their country apart, 75% of Syrians...
View ArticleMapping My Return - Salman Abu Sitta on the fate of the Palestinians
Vivid re-telling of the experience of the Nakba - a tragedy that did not end with Israel’s war of independence in 1948It’s the time of year when Israelis and Palestinians mark the anniversary that...
View ArticleMorbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising by Gilbert Achcar
Progressive forces failed to deal with twin threats from dictatorial regimes and reactionary Islamists, argues a bleak new assessment of regional mayhemRamadan is again being overshadowed by violence...
View ArticleUnderstanding, but no peace for Palestinian and Israeli students in UK
City University’s pioneering Olive Tree programme helped bridge the narrative divide for young scholars from the harsh front lines of the Middle East. Now the cash has run out.On the face of it, it was...
View Article'Europe pays a heavy price for Syria – it must act to end the crisis'
Anti-Assad opposition wants to see the EU – despite Brexit diversions – do more to help secure a political solution to the bloody conflict in its own backyardEurope’s extraordinary political...
View ArticleBombings in Saudi Arabia aim to challenge kingdom's legitimacy
Isis attacks on sites including the burial place of the prophet Muhammad are condemned as an assault ‘on Islam itself’Suicide bombings across the Muslim world, in Baghdad, Dhaka and Istanbul, have made...
View ArticleSaudi talk of 'regime change' takes hostility to Iran to new level
Controversial remarks by Prince Turki al-Faisal underline the strains of sectarianism and strategic rivalry between Riyadh and TehranTurki al-Faisal is a remarkably modest man for a senior Saudi...
View ArticleTerrorist attacks and security lapses fuel fears for Jordan's stability
Isis and homegrown extremism challenge western-backed kingdom pressured by economic crisis, refugee flows and repercussions of the war in SyriaKing Abdullah II of Jordan, looking regal in army dress...
View ArticleWill Palestinians sue Britain over the Balfour declaration of 1917?
Call by Mahmoud Abbas for historical reckoning reflects impasse in hope for diplomatic progress towards a two-state solution to end conflict with IsraelNo one who follows the Palestinian issue will be...
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