Sectarianism is in the eye of the beholder I know it is never easy, but if we are about to have a reset then we should do the same with our perceptions of the region. Analysis of the Middle East has been dominated by two widely held beliefs: o...

"It is as if there is a disease called sectarianism that can be treated by de-sectarianization."

arab.news/jknv9

Touching and sincere tribute to Hugh Roberts.

Lebanon looks back, but is April 13 best forgotten? Do we really have to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the start of the Lebanese civil war? We are still too busy still thinking of the more recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and we are ...

"What is the point of reminding them that at one point they were killing each other?" My piece in Arab News about the 50th anniversary of the civil war.
arab.news/yzv8a

Liban : retour sur "le massacre du bus" qui a déclenché 15 ans de guerre civile Que s’est-il passé le dimanche 13 avril 1975, à Aïn el-Remmaneh, dans la banlieue chrétienne de Beyrouth ? Un journaliste franco-libanais a mené l’enquête, reconstituant avec minutie les heures qui on...

Great report on that here: www.france24.com/fr/moyen-ori...

Lebanon needs its own Department of Government Efficiency Once upon a time, a little frog tried to compete with an enormous ox. It blew and blew and blew and swelled itself until it burst. The moral of the story, which is one of Aesop’s Fables, is a warning ...

"The world’s worst-kept secret is that the global debt accumulated over the last 70 years will never be repaid, unless more is borrowed to repay it. It is obvious that the global economy is no longer sustainable with its growing deficits and debts." arab.news/6wy67

Lebanon needs its own Department of Government Efficiency Once upon a time, a little frog tried to compete with an enormous ox. It blew and blew and blew and swelled itself until it burst. The moral of the story, which is one of Aesop’s Fables, is a warning ...

It is easy for a government to succumb to the temptation of a bigger role after a destructive war and when government spending is much-needed. This is what happened in Europe after the Second World War: politicians got addicted to spending and could not give up the habit.

arab.news/6wy67

No room for old prejudices when judging the new Syria Syria is still full of surprises and raises many questions. Perhaps regime change is not that bad after all. If so, then why did it not happen before? Can we expect a Syria’s new rulers to evolve and ...

"Western fear of Islam, because of the actions of a minority of radicals, was stronger than the West’s love of freedom" arab.news/n3yds

At last, I managed to join.
Is there anybody out there?