by Mitchell Plitnick There was a lot to digest in the joint press conference held by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. Most of the focus has been on the apparent walk-back Trump made… Continue Reading
by Charles Naas Last weekend in Vienna the world’s major powers and several additional nations with some direct or regional interest in the chaotic situation that has torn Syria apart—19 in all, including the UN and the EU—took one tiny step… Continue Reading
by Shireen T. Hunter After four years of war, with more than 200,000 dead and several million displaced and refugees, there’s no end in sight to the Syrian crisis. On the contrary, the risks have increased that the West’s differences… Continue Reading
by Emile Nakhleh The Druze, a centuries-old Arab community and an offshoot of Shia Islam, is the latest religious minority in the Levant to suffer the wrath of Islamic extremists. Jabhat al-Nusra or the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliated group fighting… Continue Reading
by Aurélie Daher It’s been such perennial for nearly a decade now that we can almost call it a tradition. Every year since 2006, at roughly the same time in late spring, some analysts, officials, or other informed observers confidently… Continue Reading