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      Michael Young

      Michael Young

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      Michael Young is a Lebanon affairs columnist for The National. He is the senior editor at the Malcolm H Kerr Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut, where he also edits Diwan, the blog of the Carnegie Middle East Programme. A former journalist, he is the author of 'The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle' (Simon and Schuster, 2010), selected by The Wall Street Journal as one of its 10 notable books for 2010.
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      Articles

      The burial of Rami Salman, one of two aides of Lebanese minister Saleh Al Gharib killed on Sunday in an alleged assassination attempt. Mohamed Azakir / Reuters
      Deadly clashes in Lebanon are indicative of a power struggle

      Foreign minister Gebran Bassil's presidential aspirations have sparked growing tensions

      CommentJuly 10, 2019
      President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order to increase sanctions on Iran, flanked by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, left, and Vice President Mike Pence, in the Oval Office of the White House. AP/Alex Brandon
      Averting conflict with Iran is the right move, but Trump's margins for manoeuvre are limited

      The US president has gravitated between bombast and a desire to avoid military engagement – both positions with far-reaching implications for the region

      CommentJune 26, 2019
      Jewish settlers guarded by Israeli security forces walk past a market stall on the Palestinian side of the old city market in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. AFP / Hazem Bader
      Amid talk of annexing West Bank, the idea of population transfer rears again

      The view that it is in the interest of Israel to obtain the greatest amount of land with the least number of Palestinians stretches back decades

      CommentJune 12, 2019
      Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, who died on Sunday. Aldo Ayoub / EPA
      Nasrallah Sfeir had higher expectations of Lebanon than its own leaders

      The former Maronite Christian patriarch was a staunch defender of Lebanese sovereignty

      CommentMay 15, 2019
      Lebanon's foreign minister Gebran Bassil recently said that the government might cut the salaries of public-sector employees. Cynthia Karam / Reuters
      Salary cuts will not save Lebanon's crumbling public services or its economic woes

      There is no broad consensus on what must be done to save the nation from financial collapse, but real reform must begin with the political class itself

      CommentMay 01, 2019
      The peace plan drawn up by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, could have catastrophic consequences. AFP / Saul Loeb
      For peace to exist, the right of Palestinians to a fully sovereign state must be recognised

      The plan being prepared by the Trump administration looks likely leave out this crucial point

      CommentApril 17, 2019
      Israeli tourists visit the Syrian border in the Golan Heights. EPA/Atef Safadi
      US policy undermines principles that have guided Arab-Israeli negotiations for more than 50 years

      The Trump adminstration's efforts set a dangerous precedent and play fast and loose with regional stability

      EditorialApril 03, 2019
      Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil appears to want to be Lebanon's next president. Bill Kotsatos for The National
      Gebran Bassil denies any interest in Lebanon’s presidency, but no one is buying his act

      A recent row with Prime Minister Saad Hariri was the latest in a series of carefully planned manoeuvres by the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement

      CommentMarch 20, 2019
      Israeli soldiers stand in an open area near Mount Bental, an observation post in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that overlooks the Syrian side of the Quneitra crossing. Reuters
      The peculiar and contradictory history of the US bill to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights

      This document has nothing to do with international law. It is about passing legislation to profit from an administration that has undermined all past principles of Arab-Israeli negotiations

      CommentMarch 06, 2019
      US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the security summit in Warsaw. Sean Gallup / Getty
      Washington is starting to realise the limitations of its diplomatic power

      After a week in which its foreign policy contradictions caught up with the US administration, it is looking increasingly isolated

      CommentFebruary 20, 2019
      Lebanese President Michel Aoun, centre, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri, centre right, and Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, centre left, with new Lebanese ministers. EPA/Dalati Nohra
      Now that Lebanon finally has a government, the real work begins

      Fixing the nation's economy, rebuilding its crumbling infrastructure and reining in Hezbollah will all prove mighty tasks for Prime Minister Saad Hariri

      EditorialFebruary 06, 2019
      Lebanese prime minister-designate Saad Hariri at the opening session of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Beirut this week. Wael Hamzeh / EPA
      Flawed Arab economic summit was a sign of Syria's attempts to reinsert itself in Lebanese politics

      As a result the deadlock over forming a government continues, even though Lebanon is in urgent need of reforms to avoid a financial collapse

      CommentJanuary 23, 2019
      Donald Trump dismayed many with his comments about Syria. AFP
      History proves Syria's strategic importance should not be underestimated

      Donald Trump has dismissed the country as nothing more than "sand and death". In doing so, he misunderstands how important it is to his ambitions of containing Iran

      CommentJanuary 09, 2019
      Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak to anyone and has no interest in claiming the moral high ground. AFP
      In the Middle East, Russia has welcomed everyone to its table

      As the only person who can mediate between the likes of Israel and Iran, Vladimir Putin now occupies a position of immense power in the region

      CommentDecember 26, 2018
      A Syrian woman carries her child inside an internallly displaced persons camp in the north-east of the country. AFP
      While Syrians have faced unimaginable suffering, the idea of humanitarian intervention has withered and died

      The international community's commitment to protecting civilians from conflict reached a high point in the 1990s. Now it has been abandoned

      CommentDecember 12, 2018
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