menu_open Columnists

Middle East Monitor

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

How did the American Israel-First sayanim enable and protect Epstein? (Part 2)

In the first article last week, I argued that Jeffrey Epstein was not a lone rogue predator. This week, I turn to the more troubling question: how...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Jamal Kanj

The Trilateral Fortress: “Why the fall of Damascus didn’t end the Middle East’s long war”

The geopolitical shorthand for Iranian power used to be the “Land Bridge” — a 1,000-mile artery of influence stretching from the Zagros...

yesterday 20

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

As Indonesia leads on human rights, Gaza defines the moment

There are moments in international affairs when statistics stop behaving like abstractions and begin to smell of reality. Gaza has reached that...

yesterday 20

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

The architect of Iraq’s destruction

The reintroduction of Nouri al-Maliki as Iraq’s prime ministerial candidate is not just a symbolic setback; it is a pathological symptom of the...

yesterday 20

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

Candid imperialism: Trump, racketeering and Venezuelan oil

It usually takes archival digging, the golden gaffe, an ill-considered remark and occasional spells of candour by those in power, to admit that the...

previous day 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

Economic hegemony as a doctrine: A reading of current US foreign policy

After months of US military pressure on the Maduro regime, American forces carried out a raid on Caracas in the early hours of 3 January, abducting...

previous day 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Sania Faisal El-Husseini

From Gaza to Caracas: Trump’s Maduro abduction signals a new era of lawless power

The abduction of Nicolás Maduro is part of a larger pattern. It belongs to the same doctrine that flattened Gaza under the language of...

previous day 10

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Iran’s greatest threat isn’t Washington. It’s the generation that refuses to bow.

While Western policymakers obsess over centrifuges, sanctions, and proxy militias, they are staring past the Islamic Republic’s greatest...

saturday 3

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Iran’s protests signal systemic crisis, not sudden collapse

For decades, Western commentary has treated protest in Iran as a countdown to regime collapse. Each wave of unrest is framed as the final chapter...

saturday 60

Middle East Monitor

Eko Ernada

The chaos that calculates: Unveiling Tehran’s strategy of “managed ambiguity” against Israel

In the post-war strategic landscape of the Middle East, silence constitutes the most deceptive variable. While the balance of power appears to have...

saturday 40

Middle East Monitor

Mahdi Motlagh

Red Sea lines and the return of Arab red lines

The Middle East is entering a quieter but far more consequential rupture. This is not the drama of crowds in public squares or leaders toppled...

saturday 30

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Israel and Turkey are no longer feuding allies; they are strategic rivals

What began as a diplomatic rupture has hardened into a regional power contest with direct consequences for US strategy from Gaza to the Eastern...

09.01.2026 80

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Adelaide Festival cancels Palestinian voice: Australia’s free speech test

In the fragile silence that followed the Bondi terror attack, Australia was reminded of how quickly fear can rearrange public life. Fifteen people...

09.01.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Beyond ruin – One state, liberation, and the grim work of reconciliation in Palestine

The one-state solution for Palestine has been spoken of for decades—sometimes as a moral ideal, sometimes as a technocratic fix, and at other times...

09.01.2026 2

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

Bondi’s Royal Commission: A pathway to transformative justice or another executive power expansion?

In a notable change of heart, Albanese’s government has reversed its stance in response to the Bondi attack, ultimately agreeing to a Royal...

09.01.2026 4

Middle East Monitor

Aisya A. Zaharin

Maduro’s ‘capture’ and the linguistic coup: Why I have a problem with the word

As a Libyan who has lived through forced “regime change” scripts in my country in 2011, I recognise this pattern and the role the media played in...

08.01.2026 80

Middle East Monitor

Dr Mustafa Fetouri

Gaza as a linchpin: Six reasons why Netanyahu is prolonging conflict in the Middle East

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has concluded his visit to the United States, returning home after reportedly securing yet another round...

08.01.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

Indonesia issued 51 visas to Israelis. That choice has moral consequences

Indonesia has issued 51 calling visas to Israeli nationals. The information did not come from a press conference or a parliamentary debate, but...

08.01.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

The “Zionist tint” to the Maduro abduction, if not operational, then normative

When Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez condemned the 3 January abduction of her president as bearing a “Zionist tint,” Western commentary...

08.01.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Wan Naim Wan Mansor

Israel’s security narrative in the absence of foreign media in Gaza

Since October 2023, Israel killed 278 journalists in Gaza and 706 of their family members . In December, the Knesset voted in favour of a bill that...

08.01.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

When America leaves, the Middle East redraws the rules

The quiet earthquake in Washington in January 2026 will not stay confined to American domestic politics. When the United States withdrew from...

08.01.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Trump and Netanyahu’s “glory” is terminal

Much to his dismay when the war criminal Netanyahu had hoped that the billions invested in “improving” Israel’s public image would shield him...

08.01.2026 30

Middle East Monitor

Iqbal Jassat