Articles
Promising clarity on Libya, Obama delivers confusion
Barack Obama's speech on Monday, which updated the American public on the war in Libya, was both important and exasperating.
The leaders don't appear to know who is in charge
The West has committed to intervention against Qaddafi's forces without a clear endgame in sight.
Iraq's scars remain upon the face of western intervention
The ghosts of Iraq's invasion linger as the international community shies away from intervening in Libya, and does so at its own peril.
Lebanon's revolution waylaid by the old sectarian demons
In 2005, Lebanese idealists thought that they had launched a patriotic revolution, but the aftermath has shown that politics and protest inevitably fall along sectarian lines, Michael Young writes.
Local, not global, consensus, will unite Lebanon's parties
Stuck between Syria and Hizbollah, Lebanon's new coalition government will have to tread carefully in order to maintain consensus.
Conventional wisdom is the first casualty of revolutions
The recent uprisings among Arab populations have been largely driven by domestic needs and aspirations, and not by hatred towards the West and Israel.
Lebanon's feuding sides draw rival inspirations from Egypt
Hizbollah quickly endorsed Egypt's revolution, but the Sunni bloc led by Saad Hariri may also feel empowered as Cairo reasserts its presence in regional politics.
Egypt makes Israel nervous for all the wrong reasons
Israel has been living an illusion in the Middle East by assuming that peace treaties with undemocratic neighbours constitute a safeguard against having to address the complexities of the Arab world.
The US must choose principles or Cold-War habits
Events in Egypt are forcing the US to choose between the status quo in the Middle East or spreading genuine democratic practices.
Jumblatt shifts with the wind, but so do Lebanese fortunes
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt is one of the great survivors of Lebanese politics. However, his recent decision to abandon former Prime Minister Saad Hariri may come back to haunt him.
Region's idealised past gets in the way of progress today
Within the Middle East, the prevailing view is that the region's woes are by-products of outside interference. Such a surrender to history reflects deep self-contempt.
Only a canny America can force a Middle East peace
Having tried everything, the US may end up with nothing left to offer, fatally discrediting itself in the Middle East.
Lebanese on the sidelines in this game of political football
Lebanon is mired in a legal tussle over the investigation into the killing of its former prime minister. But the legal avenue may be less important today than the political manoeuvring attached to it.
Ideas appear to matter much less in Washington these days
It would be a pity to reduce all discussion of how American power might assist in spreading freedom, human rights and pluralism, to an endorsement of neoconservative thought.
We must save the region's religions for diversity's sake
Aiding the survival of Arab-Christian communities is a cultural obligation, no less than preserving other threatened communities in the world.
