menu_open Columnists

Middle East Monitor

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Why Ethiopia and Eritrea’s march to war demands global attention

Why Ethiopia and Eritrea’s march to war demands global attention

The distant thunder of drones over Adigrat is not merely another African conflict. It is the sound of a continent’s most fragile peace...

latest 10

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

The Yemen trap: Why Saudi Arabia should reject Israel’s help

The Yemen trap: Why Saudi Arabia should reject Israel’s help

If reports are true that Benjamin Netanyahu tried to offer Israeli involvement on Saudi Arabia’s side in the war in Yemen, this should not be read...

latest 30

Middle East Monitor

Tamer Ajrami

Coercive diplomacy: What does the call between Netanyahu and al-Sharaa really mean?

Coercive diplomacy: What does the call between Netanyahu and al-Sharaa really mean?

The phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa—following months of firing salvos via...

latest 30

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

Diplomats to MEMO: Colombia’s ICJ withdrawal reflects alignment with US

Diplomats to MEMO: Colombia’s ICJ withdrawal reflects alignment with US

Colombia’s decision to withdraw from South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), followed by the...

latest 50

Middle East Monitor

Eman Abusidu

Why a new US–Israeli war against Iran could carry enormous risks

Why a new US–Israeli war against Iran could carry enormous risks

In recent days, three developments have emerged as key preliminary indicators that the US may be preparing to step up its military campaign against...

latest 60

Middle East Monitor

Saied Reza Ameli

From Hormuz to Bab el-Mandeb: Saudi Arabia’s difficult choices

From Hormuz to Bab el-Mandeb: Saudi Arabia’s difficult choices

Developments in Yemen today cannot be separated from the repercussions of the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran. The prolonged...

latest 30

Middle East Monitor

Dr Sania Faisal El-Husseini

The international community does not object to permanent forced displacement

The international community does not object to permanent forced displacement

Mere days after Israel’s High Court of Justice ordered a detailed plan for the return of over 33,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israeli...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

The Gulf needs a security order that Washington cannot switch off

The Gulf needs a security order that Washington cannot switch off

The Gulf has spent decades buying security from the world’s most powerful military. American bases dot the region, advanced weapons fill its...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Jannus Th Siahaan

From underground wealth to diplomatic power: Azerbaijan’s energy strategy

From underground wealth to diplomatic power: Azerbaijan’s energy strategy

Azerbaijani oil passes through Turkiye to Israel, its gas reaches European markets, and Emirati and Saudi capital finances its power plants. This...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Kamran Yeganegi

Trump could lose Congress and still expand the US war on Iran

Trump could lose Congress and still expand the US war on Iran

President Trump has promised that the United States will not attack Iran before the 3rd  November midterm elections. That statement sounds like...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Norliza Binti Saleh

Don’t let Britain shelve Sally Rooney

Don’t let Britain shelve Sally Rooney

This week, something happened in Britain that should worry every reader, every writer and everyone who believes in free speech. Faber, the publisher...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Adnan Hmidan

Israeli Spy Pollard stole the files, today’s it’s delivered through official channels

Israeli Spy Pollard stole the files, today’s it’s delivered through official channels

Espionage novels portray the spy as a person in a trench coat carrying stolen documents and disappearing into a dark alley. Israeli spy, Jonathan...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Jamal Kanj

The policing of Muslim women’s bodies, from West Asia to Europe and beyond

The policing of Muslim women’s bodies, from West Asia to Europe and beyond

There is something profoundly vile about discriminating against women and policing their bodies in the name of secularism. Dictating what a woman...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Jwan Zreiq

What does the Green Party’s historic anti-Zionist motion mean for Palestine?

What does the Green Party’s historic anti-Zionist motion mean for Palestine?

The Green Party has put the conversation back on track: the problem is not the lack of creative solutions to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The...

yesterday 60

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

The ceasefire that keeps killing children: Gaza one year on

The ceasefire that keeps killing children: Gaza one year on

According to the Trump administration, there is a ceasefire in Gaza, since 10th October 2025. This would suggest that no firing is going on, nobody is...

yesterday 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Mustafa Fetouri

Israel’s elections: Netanyahu wants more than victory; he wants to stop others from governing

Israel’s elections: Netanyahu wants more than victory; he wants to stop others from governing

Opinion polls in Israel tell us many things, but they do not tell the whole story. Sometimes Netanyahu’s bloc appears close to returning to power....

previous day 50

Middle East Monitor

Tamer Ajrami

Returning to Gaza after two years

Returning to Gaza after two years

When I entered Gaza through the crossing, I was shocked and stunned by what I saw. Looking to my right and left, all the houses were destroyed,...

previous day 50

Middle East Monitor

Buthaina Subeh

America’s broken promises, Iran’s resolve, and the dangerous game over the Strait of Hormuz

America’s broken promises, Iran’s resolve, and the dangerous game over the Strait of Hormuz

The latest diplomatic deadlock over the Strait of Hormuz exposes the central problem in the US–Iran confrontation: Washington wants concessions from...

previous day 80

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

One year since the ceasefire, the UN commemorates its failures

One year since the ceasefire, the UN commemorates its failures

Nothing spells hypocrisy more accurately than the UN commemorating its failures. In a press release titled One year after ceasefire announcement,...

tuesday 50

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

IsDB chief in Jakarta: A US$2.56 billion plan with a missing climate pillar

IsDB chief in Jakarta: A US$2.56 billion plan with a missing climate pillar

Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, spent four days in Jakarta, from 7 to 10 October 2026. The IsDB is a...

tuesday 70

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

On the universality of Gazan resistance: A century-long struggle for human rights

On the universality of Gazan resistance: A century-long struggle for human rights

The struggle of Gaza’s people is frequently interpreted through the competing languages of security, nationalism, religion and geopolitics. Each...

tuesday 50

Middle East Monitor

Buğra Sarı

E1 and the fight over Palestinian statehood

E1 and the fight over Palestinian statehood

Few pieces of land carry as much weight as the 12 square kilometres known as E1. It is an unremarkable stretch of hillside on a map, but for critics...

tuesday 60

Middle East Monitor

Professor Mathew James

Washington’s diesel deal: A door in the sanctions wall

Washington’s diesel deal: A door in the sanctions wall

On Friday, President Trump described his phone call with Vladimir Putin as “highly successful.” By Monday, oil traders had reason to agree. Kyiv...

tuesday 80

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

The Riyadh attacks and the fragility of regional security: Implications for global politics, oil markets and the world economy

The Riyadh attacks and the fragility of regional security: Implications for global politics, oil markets and the world economy

The recent attacks on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, particularly the strikes against King Khalid International Airport, represent a significant...

tuesday 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ismail Adaramola

The politics of gratitude: The corruption no one sees

The politics of gratitude: The corruption no one sees

Not all political corruption begins with money. Sometimes, it begins with success. Public imagination has long been trained to look for corruption in...

tuesday 70

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

Gaza’s displaced face a deadly choice: collapsing buildings or flooded tents

Gaza’s displaced face a deadly choice: collapsing buildings or flooded tents

With thousands of buildings damaged and the punishing winter fast approaching, displaced Palestinians sheltering inside Gaza’s ruins face two bitter...

12.10.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Rami Ruhmi

When pilgrims became targets, billions could not save them

When pilgrims became targets, billions could not save them

The white ihram garments of Umrah pilgrims, stained crimson on the departure concourse of King Khalid International Airport. That image, seared into...

12.10.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Imagined threat: How Europe learned to manufacture enemies from Israel

Imagined threat: How Europe learned to manufacture enemies from Israel

The rhetoric of “existential threat” has become the dominant currency of political legitimacy in both Israel and Europe. In Israel, this rhetoric...

12.10.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Ahmed Asmar

Britain’s Jerusalem mission stays open, but its work with Palestinians is in doubt

Britain’s Jerusalem mission stays open, but its work with Palestinians is in doubt

On 8 October, 2026, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, announced that the British Consulate General in Jerusalem “ceases operations...

12.10.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Rashid Mirsad

The president who can’t say his name

The president who can’t say his name

Three weeks before Michigan decides whether to send the first Muslim senator to Washington, the president still cannot or will not say the man’s...

11.10.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Saudi Arabia can fight the Houthis, it may not be able to defeat them.

Saudi Arabia can fight the Houthis, it may not be able to defeat them.

Saudi Arabia can afford a long war. It can buy aircraft, missiles, drones, air-defense systems and intelligence. It can absorb losses that would...

11.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Ronny P Sasmita

El-Sisi in Jakarta: Trade promises, a Nile pledge and an outdated Palestine formula

El-Sisi in Jakarta: Trade promises, a Nile pledge and an outdated Palestine formula

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi landed in Jakarta on Saturday evening, 10 October 2026, at the end of an Asian tour that began in South Korea...

11.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

Yemen in the Middle East’s energy equation: From natural resources to the right to development

Yemen in the Middle East’s energy equation: From natural resources to the right to development

In a mountainous area of Yemen, solar-powered pumps changed how families obtained water. Households that had spent hours collecting it gained access...

11.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Dr Kamran Yeganegi

The Makkah Alliance has been called defensive. Now it has to prove it.

The Makkah Alliance has been called defensive. Now it has to prove it.

By Mansoor Qaisar, Islamabad  When Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye signed the Makkah Alliance for Defence in August, most of us read it as a...

11.10.2026 80

Middle East Monitor

Mansoor Qaisar

Pillay’s defiance, Sharif’s disgrace: The prize, the praise, and the politics of prostration

Pillay’s defiance, Sharif’s disgrace: The prize, the praise, and the politics of prostration

The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize has exposed two political universes: a South Africa that defies imperial power and Israeli impunity, and a nuclear-armed...

10.10.2026 80

Middle East Monitor

Junaid S. Ahmad

Waffling at the UN: OpenAI, Anthropic and Selling Artificial Intelligence

Waffling at the UN: OpenAI, Anthropic and Selling Artificial Intelligence

They are a trying lot, spruiking their overvalued, loss-making firms, sowing discord and fear, and then seeking state collaboration that will serve to...

10.10.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

When a Threat Alone Moves a Superpower’s Bombers

When a Threat Alone Moves a Superpower’s Bombers

On Sunday, Oct. 4, every American B-1 bomber at RAF Fairford lifted off and flew home. Twelve aircraft, the backbone of the only forward bomber base...

10.10.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Iraq cannot restore its sovereignty by disarming militias alone

Iraq cannot restore its sovereignty by disarming militias alone

Iraq is approaching a decisive test of its sovereignty. Following the end of the US-led coalition’s military mission in federal Iraq on 30 September...

09.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Dr Jannus Th Siahaan

Political failure, not economic shock, unmasks Iraq

Political failure, not economic shock, unmasks Iraq

The grievance-laden rhetoric delivered by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi before parliament is a transparent attempt to package a systemic...

09.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

The Palestinian election dilemma

The Palestinian election dilemma
08.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Dr Sania Faisal El-Husseini

Naza and whose testimony we believe

Naza and whose testimony we believe
08.10.2026 80

Middle East Monitor

Dr Omar Abdel-Mannan

In a genocidal state, even Netanyahu is seen as ‘too pro-Palestine’

In a genocidal state, even Netanyahu is seen as ‘too pro-Palestine’
08.10.2026 90

Middle East Monitor

Muhammad Azhar Mohamad

From Aramco to ACWA Power: How Saudi Arabia is redrawing its map of energy influence

From Aramco to ACWA Power: How Saudi Arabia is redrawing its map of energy influence
08.10.2026 100

Middle East Monitor

Dr Kamran Yeganegi

Indonesians must boycott pro-Israel singer Andrea Bocelli’s concert at Borobudur

Indonesians must boycott pro-Israel singer Andrea Bocelli’s concert at Borobudur
08.10.2026 80

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

The Board of Peace’s commitment is tied to Israeli colonialism

The Board of Peace’s commitment is tied to Israeli colonialism
08.10.2026 80

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

7th October: The earthquake that put Palestine back at the centre of the world

7th October: The earthquake that put Palestine back at the centre of the world
08.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Tamer Ajrami

Don’t argue about what Zionism is; look at what it does

Don’t argue about what Zionism is; look at what it does
08.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Ibrahim Hewitt

The lists are growing: Will Israel finally pay a price?

The lists are growing: Will Israel finally pay a price?
08.10.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

The shadow of Balfour: Confronting a century of selective memory

The shadow of Balfour: Confronting a century of selective memory
08.10.2026 90

Middle East Monitor

Dr Mustafa Fetouri

Guterres in Islamabad: Genocide, cowardice, and the cage of Imran Khan

Guterres in Islamabad: Genocide, cowardice, and the cage of Imran Khan
07.10.2026 150

Middle East Monitor

Junaid S. Ahmad