There is growing frustration, inside and outside the United States, with the otherwise attractive Obama administration, primarily because of its failure to bring about any measurable change in U.S. policy especially in the Middle East. Hopes are continuously raised, but have yet to be fulfilled. The spirited American leader ... More

Time passes and peace in Palestine is not materializing. The consequences, both short and long term, are not in the interest of either the Palestinians or the Israelis. The violence that constantly erupts affects all, and the stalemate serves no one. On the whole, however, the Palestinians are affected more than the Israelis ... More

By this time next week I hope to be in the final stages of possibly the most challenging duty of my faith, the hajj. While I always knew it was a journey I would make one day, I didn’t expect to be embarking on it quite so soon. The opportunity arose when I was asked to cover the pilgrimage for work. And so I decided to ... More

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has reverted to an old political trick by saying he will resign and not run for reelection when the next presidential elections are held in early 2010 - and then immediately arranging a series of staged “rallies” in which ordinary people appear to cheer him and demand that he ... More

Switzerland is a unique and distinguished country, one that had adopted an independent approach based upon the principle of neutrality. Switzerland refrains from adopting positions that may result in hostility with others. It is a country that has adopted the principles of hard-work, accountability, responsibility, and justice. ... More

"We want to be like Janus, the Greek god because we wish to combine different values. We want to be able to mourn our own Neda Agha-Sultan and be sad about people dying in Gaza." This is how Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the principal challenger to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad describes his "green ... More

When a person returns to their homeland, they should not be necessarily escorted by foreign journalists. But should this happen, like what took place with the return of Aminato Haidar to the Sahara provinces, the event becomes worthy of reflection, at least to add an exceptional character to an event that might have remained an ... More

I never was a fan of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the former Egyptian president known for his socialist and pan-Arabist nationalist ideological legacy, and for his hostility against the West and Israel. But today I mourn him, for the first time, and it’s only now that I wish Egypt was still blessed with Nasser’s manhood and dignity. ... More

Nobody can dispute that Jordanians are currently facing tough challenges due to an unprecedented economic crisis and a budget deficit of more than JD1.1 billion. The prime minister has repeatedly urged austerity measures and expenditure control, which is the right thing to do in such circumstances. But despite his calls, ... More

A faded photo of an attractive man in an army uniform winking at the camera as he shows off his pink Cadillac, a fragile and yellowed edition of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace with notes scribbled in the margins, a worn-out pair of children’s ballerina shoes and a child’s suede sack holding 10 heavy gold coins with Pope John ... More

How can one strike a balance between individual freedom and cultural and ethnic diversity? It is a dilemma that becomes doubly urgent when certain acts are committed like the one by Nidal Hasan, the U.S. officer of Palestinian descent, who opened fire and killed a number of his military comrades in a U.S. base in Texas last ... More

I always recommend reading Hassan Nasrallah's speeches rather than listening to them, because reading one of his speeches unemotionally allows one to read between the lines. The latest speech given by the Hezbollah leader was as if he were trying to compete with Mr. Amr Mousa for the position of Secretary-General of the ... More

As a young boy, I used to play football with the other children in the neighbourhood, and then as a teenager, I played with my high school team. When I grew up and started working, I could soon afford to go to Germany to attend the world cup finals, and took my pregnant wife with me. In 1968, I attended the Olympics in Mexico, ... More

An uneasy waiting game has begun involving the United States, Israel and the Palestinians. After weeks of failed diplomatic efforts to restart peace negotiations, the three parties are in a state of repose, each pondering the next move and preparing for a major event to happen. No one really knows what to expect and it is ... More

As a child in early 1940s Palestine, I grew up in a small village of 1,500 people with its roots in biblical times. I would like to tell a childhood anecdote that I recalled as I was reading the news the other day. Life was simple, tranquil and often hard, but despite the lack of modern amenities or even what was then ... More

A Muslim family sits across from me in a café in a largely Muslim Asia country. An older woman shyly hunches over and desperately trying to avoid eye contact with the giant plasma screen TV, blazing loud music on the popular music video channel, MTV. The scantily dressed presenter introduces her “top song” for the week. ... More

Following the G8 Summit, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with the U.S. President. During this meeting, President Saleh was briefed on information gathered by the CIA, specifically with regards to what is termed the Youthful Believers movement [Shabab al-Moumineen] which is led by Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi. Al-Houthi ... More

As is the case with Arab politics, Arab sports competitions, especially when it comes to football, are full of difficulties, problems and disputes. The moment the draw places two Arab teams in the same group in any qualifications or continental or world championships, a climate of “the mother of all matches” begins to take ... More

Now, in the absence of a peace process in the Middle East, one feels compelled to discuss two main obstacles to conciliation that have been debated time and again to no avail. First, Israel will not proceed towards peace if the Americans are not on board. This explains the explicit demand, mainly voiced by the Arabs, that a ... More

Poor Gordon Brown. The UK prime minister did not start the war in Afghanistan, but last night he was again having to defend the presence there of his country’s soldiers in the face of growing hostility from the British public. Mr. Brown’s annual Guildhall foreign policy speech came in the wake of the row over his letter ... More