menu_open Columnists

Middle East Monitor

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

The geostrategic and geoeconomics of Kharg Island

The geostrategic and geoeconomics of Kharg Island

Security dynamics in the Persian Gulf have entered a perilous phase following the outbreak of armed confrontation between the United States–Israel...

latest 5

Middle East Monitor

Dr Jannus Th Siahaan

Egypt and the Gulf states: Sharp differences over the Iran war

Egypt and the Gulf states: Sharp differences over the Iran war

When Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi used his well-known phrase “just a step away” years ago, referring to his country’s readiness to...

latest 20

Middle East Monitor

Mahmoud Hassan

Tell me how this war will end

Tell me how this war will end

We need today to revive the question General David Petraeus posed after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, launched under fabricated pretexts: “Tell me how...

latest 20

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

The Gallows of Occupation – Law as Execution in Israel’s Apartheid State

The Gallows of Occupation – Law as Execution in Israel’s Apartheid State

The recent enactment of capital punishment legislation by the Knesset is not a mere domestic legal development. It is an act that demands examination...

yesterday 20

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

A ground war with Iran risks another Vietnam for America

A ground war with Iran risks another Vietnam for America

Washington has a favourite word for moments like this: options. It sounds sober. Responsible, even. It suggests prudence, flexibility, a...

yesterday 20

Middle East Monitor

Jenny Williams

When the world moves faster for oil than for lives

When the world moves faster for oil than for lives

There is a peculiar moral inversion unfolding in the waters of the Persian Gulf. As oil tankers idle and insurance markets shudder, more than forty...

yesterday 30

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

The “Ultra-Apartheid” Convergence: Regional Escalation and the Engineered Asphyxiation of Palestine

The “Ultra-Apartheid” Convergence: Regional Escalation and the Engineered Asphyxiation of Palestine

The contemporary transformation of the Gaza Strip—from a vibrant Mediterranean economic hub to a landscape of systemic structural...

yesterday 10

Middle East Monitor

Irvan maulana

The inevitable decline and fall of Zionism

The inevitable decline and fall of Zionism

There is a moment in the moral life of nations when the lies that sustained them can no longer hold. Israel is living through that moment. The images...

yesterday 30

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

The bomb and the ayatollah: Islamic just war and the nuclear question in post-Khamenei Iran

The bomb and the ayatollah: Islamic just war and the nuclear question in post-Khamenei Iran

The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening phase of the US-Israeli war against Iran has generated a striking argument in strategic and...

previous day 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr sajid farid shapoo

Rented Power, Borrowed Strength: The Illusion of Gulf Power in War

Rented Power, Borrowed Strength: The Illusion of Gulf Power in War

There is increasing talk of Gulf monarchies entering a war with Iran. This prospect invites not admiration but scrutiny. It would expose, in stark and...

previous day 40

Middle East Monitor

Ziyad Motala

Executing with prejudice: Israel’s death penalty law

Executing with prejudice: Israel’s death penalty law

It was celebrated with ghoulish delight.  On March 30, the Israeli Knesset passed the Penal Bill (Amendment – Death Penalty for Terrorists), an...

saturday 30

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

No Apologies – Naming Zionism for What It Is

No Apologies – Naming Zionism for What It Is

“A people that oppresses another cannot itself be free” -Friedrich Engels – Zionism is racism. I state this plainly, not as a slogan designed...

saturday 30

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

The normalisation of brutality: When will we reclaim our humanity?

The normalisation of brutality: When will we reclaim our humanity?

What we are witnessing today across occupied Palestine is not a glitch in the system of international order, nor is it a sudden detour from the...

saturday 40

Middle East Monitor

Adnan Hmidan

What Israel’s death penalty reveals when law becomes a boundary of belonging

What Israel’s death penalty reveals when law becomes a boundary of belonging

A law can sometimes reveal more than a thousand speeches ever could. Israel’s newly passed ‘Death Penalty for Terrorists’ statute does precisely...

saturday 40

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ‘Deus Vult’

The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ‘Deus Vult’

‘Deus vult’ (God wills it) was the rallying cry of medieval crusaders. Its reappearance, symbolically and rhetorically, in the US defence...

saturday 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr ahmad ghouri

Brazilian Congressman seeks to bar Israeli military personnel from entering Brazil

Brazilian Congressman seeks to bar Israeli military personnel from entering Brazil

A Bahia state lawmaker has formally urged President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to bar Israeli military personnel from entering Brazil, following a...

03.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Eman Abusidu

Iran is no longer seeking deterrence. It’s seeking immunity.

Iran is no longer seeking deterrence. It’s seeking immunity.

A month into the war, both sides are already trying to make the other pay. Iran has demanded reparations from Persian Gulf states it says enabled...

03.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Mojtaba Touiserkani

The Carrier of Creative Chaos

The Carrier of Creative Chaos

On March 31, the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush departed naval station Norfolk in Virginia, bound for the Middle East to join the other three...

03.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Sahar Huneidi

Double standard for Jerusalem: When Christians are heard and Muslims are silenced

Double standard for Jerusalem: When Christians are heard and Muslims are silenced

Israel’s treatment of Jerusalem’s holy sites in early 2026 exposed deep colonial and racist hierarchies in the city. In late February, Israeli...

03.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Ismail Patel

Notes on the Knesset’s approval of the death penalty for Palestinians

Notes on the Knesset’s approval of the death penalty for Palestinians

The Israeli parliament (the Knesset) has approved amendments to the penal code that have triggered a broad wave of criticism, as they directly target...

02.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Sania Faisal El-Husseini

A quest for justice through the wrong channels

A quest for justice through the wrong channels

In his last interview as UNRWA’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini stated that he asked for a UN investigation into Israel’s killing of...

02.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

Dominance without legitimacy in a changing World The decline of American power

Dominance without legitimacy in a changing World The decline of American power

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed in an Al Jazeera interview that messages have been exchanged with the United States during the...

02.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

The politics of death in “Israel’s” prisons

The politics of death in “Israel’s” prisons

The approval by the Knesset of a law instituting the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners marks a historic rupture in Israeli penal policy—and a...

02.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Sayid Marcos Tenorio

War, chokepoints and markets: Rethinking the US-Israel-Iran war

War, chokepoints and markets: Rethinking the US-Israel-Iran war

The ongoing US-Israel-Iran war is often framed as a military confrontation or an ideological battle. However, such interpretations only capture part...

02.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Muhammad subhan saleem

Pakistan’s mirage of mediation

Pakistan’s mirage of mediation

Diplomacy occasionally produces documents that clarify reality; more often, it produces documents that elegantly conceal its absence. The...

02.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Junaid S. Ahmad

Closing air spaces and cracking alliances: Trump’s growing problem with allies

Closing air spaces and cracking alliances: Trump’s growing problem with allies
02.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

Is America still a democracy, or just a power with democratic branding?

Is America still a democracy, or just a power with democratic branding?
02.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

‘Torture and degrading treatment’ — The case of Dr Abu Safiya and Gaza’s broken medical system

‘Torture and degrading treatment’ — The case of Dr Abu Safiya and Gaza’s broken medical system
02.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

The West Wing takeover: Replacing Libyan democracy with transactionalism

The West Wing takeover: Replacing Libyan democracy with transactionalism
02.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Mustafa Fetouri

Two leaders, two quagmires

Two leaders, two quagmires
01.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

From the margins to the middle: Pakistan’s role in the Iran war

From the margins to the middle: Pakistan’s role in the Iran war
01.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Dr Zarqa Parvez

Energy Diplomacy or Energy Security?

Energy Diplomacy or Energy Security?
01.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Kamran Yeganegi

The killing of three Indonesian soldiers in Lebanon should remind Jakarta that Israel does not want peace

The killing of three Indonesian soldiers in Lebanon should remind Jakarta that Israel does not want peace
01.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

The Lion of Batna: A general who out-marched power

The Lion of Batna: A general who out-marched power
01.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Yvonne Ridley

Separating land from the people supports Israel’s colonial expansion

Separating land from the people supports Israel’s colonial expansion
31.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

They escaped Gaza: Now they are trapped elsewhere

They escaped Gaza: Now they are trapped elsewhere
31.03.2026 30

Middle East Monitor

Dr Oroub El-Abed

Trapped by his own image: Trump’s Iran war and the politics of ego

Trapped by his own image: Trump’s Iran war and the politics of ego
31.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

Why do some Iraqis defend Khamenei’s regime?

Why do some Iraqis defend Khamenei’s regime?
31.03.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

Rethinking America’s greatest threat: Iran vs. Israel-Firsters

Rethinking America’s greatest threat: Iran vs. Israel-Firsters
31.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Jamal Kanj

The death of denial: Why the Middle East’s “Gray Zone” just vanished

The death of denial: Why the Middle East’s “Gray Zone” just vanished
31.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

The Bab al‑Mandeb Strait where uncommon conflict became a common burden

The Bab al‑Mandeb Strait where uncommon conflict became a common burden
30.03.2026 20

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Why is Iran being singled out while others escape scrutiny: Erase nuclear apartheid

Why is Iran being singled out while others escape scrutiny: Erase nuclear apartheid
30.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

Dimona’s shadow: How Israel’s nuclear monopoly warps Middle East security

Dimona’s shadow: How Israel’s nuclear monopoly warps Middle East security
30.03.2026 30

Middle East Monitor

Ronny P Sasmita

What if Khamenei died in his bed and Trump did not kill him?

What if Khamenei died in his bed and Trump did not kill him?
30.03.2026 20

Middle East Monitor

Tamer Ajrami

The Iran War: A Great Carbon Emitter

The Iran War: A Great Carbon Emitter

Truth may well be the first casualty of war, but death, injury and environmental degradation are bound to be keeping up in the hit lists.  Attacks on...

30.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

From Hormuz to households: How geopolitics is repricing Indonesia’s cooking oil

From Hormuz to households: How geopolitics is repricing Indonesia’s cooking oil
29.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Jannus Th Siahaan

Mladenov’s Gaza disarmament plan blackmails the victim, relieves the aggressor

Mladenov’s Gaza disarmament plan blackmails the victim, relieves the aggressor
29.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Ahmed Asmar

Talks without balance: Why Tehran and Trump remain locked in escalation

Talks without balance: Why Tehran and Trump remain locked in escalation
29.03.2026 30

Middle East Monitor

Mahdi niksefat motlagh

Will the US-Israeli war on Iran open the road to Palestinian freedom?

Will the US-Israeli war on Iran open the road to Palestinian freedom?
29.03.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

Great‑power recklessness and the future of Gulf security

Great‑power recklessness and the future of Gulf security
29.03.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul