Arab World

Warring Parties’ Systematic Violations Against Media Freedom Yemen’s warring parties – particularly the Houthis, the Southern Transitional Council, and the Yemeni government – have committed serious human rights violations against journalists in Yemen. Targeting journalists and media institutions has encroached on freedom of expression. Many journalists have fled the country and those who remained have […]

Donald Trump

Israeli Strike in Doha crosses a new Line from which Relations with Gulf may not Recover

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

By Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University (The Conversation) – The Israeli airstrike targeting senior Hamas political leaders in Qatar on Sept. 9, 2025, represents the crossing of a number of lines. Resulting in the deaths of six people but seemingly failing to kill any members of Hamas’ leadership, the strike was the first serious attack […]

Featured

Top 4 Reasons Netanyahu Bombed Negotiators’ Offices in Qatar

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bombed the building being used by civilian Hamas negotiators in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, in the midst of ongoing indirect negotiations with them. Five low-level Hamas members were killed, along with a Qatari security guard, but the top negotiators survived. Earlier this […]

Featured

Morocco Produces 1 gigawatt of Solar Panels Annually, as it turns to Floatovoltaics

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Morocco continues to be a pioneer in renewable energy in Africa and the Arab world. The International Trade Administration notes of Morocco, “Total installed capacity from renewable energy sources stands at 4,550 MW, corresponding to 38.2 percent of total installed electrical capacity.” The country plans to generate 56% of its […]

Arab World

Symbolism, Exile and Identity explored in Paintings: An Interview with Massoud Hayoun

Global Voices

‘The work is Arab, by and for the diverse Arab peoples. But it is beyond that, thoroughly human’ Written by Omid Memarian Massoud Hayoun, ‘Sick of foul, I’ll take the goat,’ 2024. Acrylic on canvas, [91.4 x 121.9 cm (36 x 48 in). Photo courtesy of the Larkin Durey gallery, London. ( Globalvoices.org ) – […]

Hizbullah

Risking Regional Chaos: The US-Israeli Plan to End UN Peacekeeping in S. Lebanon

The Conversation

By Vanessa Newby, Monash University and Chiara Ruffa, Sciences Po (The Conversation) – The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) is seen by many as an essential peacekeeping buffer between Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah. But Israeli pressure, US doubts over Unifil’s cost-effectiveness and the fragile state of Lebanon’s politics means there is a risk […]

Climate Crisis

When even Saudi Arabia Jumps into Solar and Wind Power, You know Change is Here

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Saudi Arabia’s massive oil deposits and its 9.53 million barrels per day (bpd) of petroleum production make it an enormous carbon polluter and the foremost enemy of climate science and of electric vehicles. Some 38% of Saudi power plants use petroleum and 62% of electricity generation is done by domestically […]

Climate Crisis

America may have invaded Iraq for its Oil, but Solar Power is what Iraqis now Want

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iraqi farmers, tired of high electricity bills and frequent blackouts, are turning to solar panels, according to Khalid Al-Mousuly at Reuters. Farmers need electricity to run water pumps for irrigation. It isn’t just the farmers. With nearly a gigawatt annually in solar panel imports, Iraq has emerged as the third-largest […]

Arab League

Can the Arab League’s Break with Hamas Shift the Course of History?

Foreign Policy in Focus

The United States must move beyond rhetoric about Hamas’s “bad faith” and offer incentives—such as aid packages or sanctions relief—to bolster moderate Palestinian voices. By Imran Khalid | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – In Gaza, where hunger gnaws at children and rubble buries hope, the Arab League issued a rare, unified declaration in […]