In a war that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians, injured many more and devastated most of the country, this week’s three-day humanitarian truce allowing for the evacuation of stranded families in the old city of Homs presented a rare sign of hope, la

The first round of the much anticipated Geneva II negotiations on Syria was a complete failure despite attempts by UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to make it appear less so. He told reporters that he had “observed a little bit of common ground; perhaps more than t

Public hostility is building up in Jordan towards US Secretary of State John Kerry’s much-publicised proposals to reach a framework agreement on final status issues between the Palestinians and Israelis. Last week, small demonstrations broke out, after Friday prayers,

Despite sporadic protests by Muslim Brotherhood supporters, Egypt managed to pass an important milestone last week when it successfully held a two-day constitutional referendum. The poll was one of the main objectives of the military-drawn roadmap that was issued following l

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas knows that the time has come for him to make the toughest decision of his long political career. He has been involved in peace negotiations with Israel for more than 20 years, with little to show for. Times have changed since he first eng