Articles
With his truce offer, Assad has left his regime exposed
Without intending to, the government of Bashar Al Assad has handed a strong card to the international community - and opened the door to future military intervention
Four elections that will shape future of the Middle East
This year there will be pivotal elections in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Egypt, writes Faisal Al Yafai. Taken together, they will alter the landscape of the region.
Five things that won’t happen in the Middle East this year
Predictions, like the careers of politicians, always end in failure, writes Faisal Al Yafai. But sometimes what doesn't happen is just as important as what does.
Mood music has changed on Syria in one long year
If ever there was a moment to end the Syrian conflict, it was 2013. There is still a political solution to the conflict, but it will look very different this year.
Syria’s opposition must talk to the ‘frightened middle’
Nothing can stop Bashar Al Assad from standing for election next year. But that could be an opportunity for the opposition.
Russia’s judo diplomacy has the West’s policy on the mat
Russia is not reasserting itself as a superpower but is successfully defending the areas where it has influence, including neighbouring countries like Ukraine and strategic partners like Syria.
Political lobbying by Arabs must start at the grassroots
The success of groups like the Israel lobby in the United States often makes Arab governments wonder the best way to lobby the West. But they would do better to first lobby other Arabs.
For young Arabs, the UAE is their home away from home
The attraction of the UAE for young Arabs goes beyond mere lifestyle
A deal with the devil could save Syria from the inferno
Standing back and insisting on drawing improbable lines in the sand, all while the Assad regime is fighting to the finish, will only condemn millions more to starvation and exile.
Syrians ask the unthinkable: could Bashar Al Assad stay?
After so much bloodshed, Syrians ask if the price of the uprising has been too high - and begin to wonder if Assad staying in power might be a price worth paying for peace
It wasn’t just Yitzhak Rabin who died that day in 1995
Just 18 years after the liberal Israeli PM was murdered, his country has shifted far to the right in many ways.
Life is different on the wrong side of a border
Technology has shrunk our world. Sadly, this world through which some move so easily is dissected by invisible but impenetrable lines.
In Sudan, the squeezed middle class finally rises up
If Omar Al Bashir can’t see that times have changed, the people around him certainly can.
Lampedusa is merely the tip of a devastating iceberg
A film said to be "about the third world trying to get into the first" is a case of art imitating life.
Demise of Ennahda is victory for secular politics in Tunisia
What Tunisia shows is that, finally, secular parties are emerging from the shadow of Islamists and on at least some issues are presenting a united front
