Few people in the Arab world or abroad will take seriously the regular Arab summit of heads of state in Jordan this week, which is a tragedy for all concerned.Pan-Arab action could have generated worldwide respect for the views and policies of sovereign Arab states, and could hav

Just as I left New York City a few days ago to return to Beirut, I read in The New York Times Dan Barry’s powerful obituary of the late Jimmy Breslin, a New York City columnist and book author.Breslin achieved his initial fame in the 1960s, when I was a journalism student in

The problematic contrast between how Arabs see themselves and how they are generally perceived in the US public sphere of media and politics jolted me again this week, as I followed American mainstream mass media that mostly mentions Arab countries in the context of war, terroris

It is refreshing to read a report once in a while that accurately captures the multiple reasons and mechanisms that lead some young people in the Arab world to pursue a path of radical action, including joining movements like Daesh and Al Qaeda.This is the case with a concise stu

It is always heartening to see some Western-based global institutions speak the truth about aspects of our turbulent and sometimes derelict conditions in Arab countries.This is the case with a report released in London Tuesday by Transparency International (TI), which said that D

Monday was a rough day for moral clarity in the Middle East.We heard from the respected Amnesty International that up to 13,000 Syrian prisoners were tortured and hanged in a government jail.The American president promised to expand military spending significantly, just days afte

Never in my life, which has spanned the United States and the Arab world, have I experienced a moment such as the past week when ordinary Americans and ordinary Arabs shared exactly the same sentiments of personal vulnerability, indignity and political anger.In the US in the past

Despite all the negative gestures and statements he has made in the past 18 months, my personal and journalistic instinct is to see what US President Donald Trump actually defines and implements as policies before judging him conclusively.That should take just a month or two at m

We have just passed through quite an extraordinary period of international activity on how to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.The UN Security Council resolution declaring Israeli settlements as illegal under international law was followed by the US forcefully speaking out a