The two presidents who will sit together on Tuesday in Damascus – Lebanon’s Michel Sleiman and Syria’s Bashar Assad – could hardly appear more different, when seen from the elemental perspective of power. Compared to the commanding Assad, Sleiman has almost no power base to speak of and thoroughly trammeled constitutional authority to exercise any power he might ever acquire. Beneath the surface, the two leaders do, however, share a common characteristic to the narrative of their reigns: the anti-reform forces in both countries have defeated whatever desires the two men might have had to renovate their respective public spheres. History does not recognize a president’s intentions, alas. Reality for at least the past five decades has been purely petty politics, with the Syrian state toying with Lebanon and much of the political elite here pushing to undermine Syria. Ahead of the Tuesday powwow, we continue to hear many politicians here mouthing the ... المزيد

منذ مدّة يتداول الإعلام والفضائيّات، لا سيّما الناطقين بلسان الممانعات، تعبير «النظام العربيّ». والحال أنّه كلما زاد غموض التعبير زاد استخدامه. وهو، والحقّ يقال، ... المزيد

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الضجة الكبيرة التي أثارها صدور كتاب "سلطة الإقصاء الشامل: تشريح الحكم الإسرائيلي للأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة"(•) في بيروت، والإتهامات القاسية بالتطبيع مع إسرائيل ... المزيد

رغم الضجيج السياسي الواسع الذي اثاره التصويت في مجلس الوزراء على الموقف الرسمي من العقوبات الدولية على ايران، يبدو من الخطأ والتسرع اعتبار هذا التصويت، بتعادله ... المزيد

لوهلة بدا ان ثمة خطأ ما او مبالغة، لكن وزير الخارجية التركية احمد داوود اوغلو شخص رصين ودقيق، ولا يلقي الكلام جزافا، عندما كشف في مقابلة مع احدى محطات التلفزيون التركية ... المزيد

المعادلة الملكة بالنسبة إلى لبنان هي "الحياد الديبلوماسي" بالنسبة إلى صراع المحاور، إقليميّاً ودوليّاً، مع الإنخراط الحيويّ والمميّز، في الصراع العربيّ ... المزيد

Iran is at the centre of a global storm: targeted by new sanctions, suspected by Washington, defended by Brazil and Turkey. But the complex diplomacy around its nuclear programme could be ended by decisions made not in the United States but in Israel. Iran has returned to the centre of international diplomacy, and with a vengeance. A week after the crisis over Israel’s assault [1] on an aid-flotilla bound for Gaza, the United Nations Security Council on 9 June 2010 adopted [2] a resolution imposing another tranche of sanctions on the Tehran regime over its contested nuclear programme. The response - from Iran’s ambassador at the UN to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at home - was characteristically vigorous. In the anniversary week of Ahmadinejad’s victory in Iran’s disputed [3] presidential election on 12 June 2010, Iran’s leadership is as determined as ever to withstand what it sees as unjust interference in its internal affairs. But this is more than just another ... المزيد

The anniversary of Iran’s tainted presidential elections came and went without much sign of life from the opposition Green Movement. Aside from scattered protests, activists were understandably cowed by governmental intimidation and heeded the advice of opposition elders to preserve their powder for future battles. To the optimist, the Green Movement remains the most promising indigenous democracy movement in the history of the Islamic Middle East. To the cynic, it’s a flash-in-the pan phenomenon that peaked last summer. As it enters its second year, there are five key challenges the Green Movement must tackle if it hopes to regain its momentum. 1. Go Beyond Street Protests Last year, the Green Movement managed to carry out one of the larger spontaneous demonstrations in contemporary world history—by some estimates 3 million people. But the scale of protests gradually diminished in the face of overwhelming governmental brutality. The movement may have strength in ... المزيد

كتب فواز طرابلسي في ملحق السفير الثقافي في 4 حزيران 2010 مقالاً عنوانه: سمير قصير... كيف أضعتُك؟ والمقال، الى استذكاره حميميّات بين صديقين (أو بين "أب وابنه" على ما يورد الكاتب)، ... المزيد