Commentaries

As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives in Washington today, U.S. President Donald Trump is framing the visit within Washington’s broader push to persuade Saudi Arabia to engage in direct normalization with Israel and join the Abraham Accords. Trump has already laid out what he describes as a “grand bargain,” emphasizing the potential approval of advanced F-35 fighter jet…

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Iraqis will head to the polls to participate in the country’s sixth parliamentary elections since 2003, amid mounting expectations and assessments pointing to the likelihood of the lowest voter turnout since the first elections held in 2005. This comes at a highly sensitive and complex moment for both the country and the wider region, reflecting the magnitude of…

Lebanon today stands at a pivotal and exceptionally sensitive juncture-one whose implications extend far beyond the southern front and reach into the very core of its position within a rapidly shifting regional equation. All political and field indicators coming from Israel, as well as from concerned Western and Arab capitals, suggest that the likelihood of escalation is now higher than…

Today, major cities are undergoing a phase of redefining their political, economic, and cultural roles. They are no longer merely urban spaces for residence and work but have become centers of decision-making and influence on global issues such as climate change, migration, equality, and sustainable development. As the nation-state’s capacity to monopolize representative authority shrinks, the city rises as an…

The Iraqi context has always been “exceptional” by nature, with elections typically held under sensitive and pivotal circumstances in the life of the country and its political system in particular. The upcoming elections, scheduled for November 11, may not differ much from these descriptions; however, they come amid an extremely complex environment in which domestic dynamics intertwine with regional transformations…

The United States is no longer an alliance-based state foreign policy, but one that operates by virtue of a network of transient instruments employed in a bid to achieve its objectives, and jettisoned once obsolete. Washington, as expressed in the political and media discourse from certain corners, does not see its allies as “allies,” but as “means” to construct its…

The visit of Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani to Beirut in October 2025 marked a pivotal political moment in the trajectory of relations between the two countries. It was not a conventional diplomatic visit; rather, it represented the first practical test of the evolving relationship between the “new Syria” and Lebanon after two decades of transformation and discontinuity. The visit…

Student activism among Jordanian universities represents an important field for understanding social and cultural change among youth. It is a measure of students’ concern for, and response to, intellectual, cultural, national, and pan-Arab issues. Their concern has traditionally been shaped by official and institutional limits—either in the form of student unions, clubs, politically-oriented blocs, registered groups, or activities tolerated by…

Israel is accelerating its reshaping of Jerusalem’s reality through an integrated urban-security approach, targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque as the center of transformation. In recent times, Jerusalem has witnessed a marked escalation in Israeli policies aimed at reshaping its geographical and religious landscape. Public provocations are being carried out within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in cooperation with the Israeli police. These provocations…

The recent press conference held in Amman, which brought together Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the U.S. Envoy to Syria Thomas Barak, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, conveyed a significant message concerning the shifting dynamics in the region. It underscored Jordan’s deep concern over the painful developments in As Suwayda specifically, and in Syria more broadly—events that Amman views…