menu_open Columnists

Middle East Monitor

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Football is not ‘the beautiful game’ when it collaborates with genocide

Football is not ‘the beautiful game’ when it collaborates with genocide

FIFA President Gianni Infantino played an infantile game at the 76th FIFA congress when he encouraged the Palestinian Football Association President...

latest 4

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

Subjects of empire: Breaking the cycle of Arab dependency on US elections

Subjects of empire: Breaking the cycle of Arab dependency on US elections

Much of the current discourse on the Middle East remains fixated on the US midterm congressional elections this coming November. This vote, in...

yesterday 20

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

Latin American Anger Grows Over Israel’s Detention of Thiago Ávila

Latin American Anger Grows Over Israel’s Detention of Thiago Ávila

Anger is spreading across parts of Latin America after Israeli forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters and detained...

yesterday 20

Middle East Monitor

Eman Abusidu

IDF raids Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters — Where is the line between enforcement and unlawful seizure?

IDF raids Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters — Where is the line between enforcement and unlawful seizure?

Israel’s interception of the Freedom Flotilla has intensified debate over the limits of state power at sea, raising questions about jurisdiction in...

yesterday 30

Middle East Monitor

Tatiana Svorou

The Surcharge Tax Americans Pay to Finance Israel-first Wars

The Surcharge Tax Americans Pay to Finance Israel-first Wars

The next time you pull into a gas station, watch the number on the pump as you squeeze the handle. That rapidly spinning dollar amount is not just the...

yesterday 30

Middle East Monitor

Jamal Kanj

Iran’s Pipe Dream: Why US Bases Are Not Going Anywhere

Iran’s Pipe Dream: Why US Bases Are Not Going Anywhere

For more than eight decades, the United States has maintained a formidable military presence across the Arabian Gulf. US bases are dotted across Saudi...

yesterday 30

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

The hypothesis of the collapse of powers like Iran fails in the real world

The hypothesis of the collapse of powers like Iran fails in the real world

In the intellectual circles of Washington and its allies, a growing certainty is evident: a combination of military and economic pressure can bring...

yesterday 30

Middle East Monitor

Jenny Williams

Iran, the crisis of US power and the end of the imperial narrative

Iran, the crisis of US power and the end of the imperial narrative

War is also won in the realm of perception. And it is precisely on this terrain that Iran has achieved its most decisive victory. By confronting both...

previous day 30

Middle East Monitor

Sayid Marcos Tenorio

The UAE: Anti-Islamic alignment and the politics of illusion

The UAE: Anti-Islamic alignment and the politics of illusion

The defining feature of the UAE model is not strength but illusion. The Iran war has exposed the fraud at its core: a glass city pretending to be a...

previous day 20

Middle East Monitor

Ziyad Motala

How Trumpism Reshaped the Politics of Protest

How Trumpism Reshaped the Politics of Protest

For a long time, scholars of social movements assumed that political coalitions form when different groups discover they have aligned interests. But...

previous day 30

Middle East Monitor

Timothy Hopper 

Iran’s vision of a new legal regime in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s vision of a new legal regime in the Strait of Hormuz

In the wake of the forty-day war between Iran and the United States-Israel, no one expected that the governing legal regime of the Strait of Hormuz...

previous day 10

Middle East Monitor

Ali Omidi

Are Gaza Blockade-Breaking Flotillas Futile?

Are Gaza Blockade-Breaking Flotillas Futile?

Each time a new flotilla sets sail towards Gaza with the aim of challenging the blockade, the same question is repeated: what is the point if these...

monday 30

Middle East Monitor

Adnan Hmidan

A post-OPEC moment calls for a UAE–Indonesia green sukuk

A post-OPEC moment calls for a UAE–Indonesia green sukuk

The United Arab Emirates’ decision to leave OPEC is not just a rupture in oil diplomacy. It is a signal that the old architecture of energy...

monday 30

Middle East Monitor

Bhima Yudhistira

Why Emerging “Peace Processes” Risk Recycling War

Why Emerging “Peace Processes” Risk Recycling War

Each time diplomacy returns to the Middle East, it promises de-escalation, stability, perhaps even peace. Yet for those in Gaza, such promises have...

monday 30

Middle East Monitor

Eko Ernada

Apple… The Digital Strait of Hormuz

Apple… The Digital Strait of Hormuz

I return to my favourite writer, John Thornhill, and borrow from him that rare glint of insight. When he replaced the Strait of Hormuz with Apple, the...

03.05.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

Israel’s Inevitable Failure to Disarm Hezbollah

Israel’s Inevitable Failure to Disarm Hezbollah

Since the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon to expel the PLO, Hezbollah has been a thorn in Israel’s side. Born of that very invasion, the Party —...

03.05.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

Why the United States should pursue a long-term agreement and security partnership with Iran

Why the United States should pursue a long-term agreement and security partnership with Iran

Look, the Middle East keeps being this expensive, messy headache for American foreign policy. It’s unstable, it drains resources, and it keeps...

03.05.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Peter Rodgers

If holy sites can be levelled, what’s next for international law?

If holy sites can be levelled, what’s next for international law?

On the first day of May, in the quiet southern Lebanese village of Yaroun, a monastery that had stood for generations disappeared in a cloud of dust....

02.05.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

The Alliance Breaker: How Trump Is Torching the West’s Friendships

The Alliance Breaker: How Trump Is Torching the West’s Friendships

Something remarkable is happening in the corridors of Western power. America’s closest allies are no longer whispering their frustrations behind...

02.05.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

The silent pipeline wars: Who is drawing the new gas map of the Middle East?

The silent pipeline wars: Who is drawing the new gas map of the Middle East?

In today’s Middle East, competition over energy resources is no longer confined to oil and gas fields; it is increasingly centered on routes—and...

01.05.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Kamran Yeganegi

Instead of indirectly insulting Yemen, Prabowo should be building relations with it

Instead of indirectly insulting Yemen, Prabowo should be building relations with it

At a high-profile industrial groundbreaking event in Central Java, President Prabowo Subianto responded sharply to critics who describe Indonesia as...

01.05.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

The US–Iran impasse: Who stands to lose more?

The US–Iran impasse: Who stands to lose more?

By the end of this month, US–Iran negotiations had reached a near stalemate, following rounds of talks in Islamabad and Muscat that failed to...

30.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Sania Faisal El-Husseini

Flotilla Defiance, Zionist Terror, and the Cowardice of Muslim Regimes

Flotilla Defiance, Zionist Terror, and the Cowardice of Muslim Regimes
30.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Junaid S. Ahmad

When a ceasefire becomes an offensive system

When a ceasefire becomes an offensive system
30.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Mahdi Motlagh

Who truly faces an existential threat?

Who truly faces an existential threat?
30.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

The disaggregation of OPEC’s Gulf production coalition: UAE’s exit and the unravelling of the Arab oil order

The disaggregation of OPEC’s Gulf production coalition: UAE’s exit and the unravelling of the Arab oil order
30.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Irvan maulana

Greater Israel: Coming soon to a neighbour near you; lines may change without notice

Greater Israel: Coming soon to a neighbour near you; lines may change without notice
30.04.2026 90

Middle East Monitor

Dr Mustafa Fetouri

America as a war economy: Eisenhower’s warning that still runs Washington

America as a war economy: Eisenhower’s warning that still runs Washington
30.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Tamer Ajrami

The pendulum swings: The slow death of Europe’s pro-Israel consensus

The pendulum swings: The slow death of Europe’s pro-Israel consensus
29.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ramzy Baroud

Bab el-Mandeb cannot become a gateway for recognition politics

Bab el-Mandeb cannot become a gateway for recognition politics
29.04.2026 30

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Iran does not stand alone – China and Russia create restraint

Iran does not stand alone – China and Russia create restraint
29.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

How St. Petersburg became Tehran’s last strategic lifeline

How St. Petersburg became Tehran’s last strategic lifeline
29.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Dr Jannus Th Siahaan

Trump’s Hormuz illusion: Why American oil will not protect US households

Trump’s Hormuz illusion: Why American oil will not protect US households
29.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Ervin hoskins

The cards they cannot play: Iran, America and the trap of unusable leverage

The cards they cannot play: Iran, America and the trap of unusable leverage
29.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Dr Mojtaba Touiserkani

The Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza — A cry at sea to the world’s dormant conscience

The Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza — A cry at sea to the world’s dormant conscience
29.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Jamal Kanj

Ideas of expulsion: Trump, NATO and Spain

Ideas of expulsion: Trump, NATO and Spain
28.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Dr Binoy Kampmark

Trump, the creator of national heroes and global icons

Trump, the creator of national heroes and global icons
28.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

How the UN maintains Gaza as an exception to the detriment of the Palestinian people

How the UN maintains Gaza as an exception to the detriment of the Palestinian people
28.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Ramona Wadi

Diplomacy by absence: How Donald Trump’s cancelled visits reshaped US engagement in the Middle East

Diplomacy by absence: How Donald Trump’s cancelled visits reshaped US engagement in the Middle East
28.04.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Dr Ismail Adaramola

The US-Israel war on Iran: Objectives, strategy, and escalation management

The US-Israel war on Iran: Objectives, strategy, and escalation management
27.04.2026 40

Middle East Monitor

Zahra Niazi

Pakistan’s pageant, Washington’s whim, Iran’s refusal

Pakistan’s pageant, Washington’s whim, Iran’s refusal
27.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Junaid S. Ahmad

Hormuz is the war’s invoice—and Washington can’t pay it

Hormuz is the war’s invoice—and Washington can’t pay it
27.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Tamer Ajrami

What a president, a movie star, a congressman, and a cell phone all dared to say

What a president, a movie star, a congressman, and a cell phone all dared to say
27.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Jasim Al-Azzawi

War…Netanyahu’s perfect definition of himself. So who will define him by peace?

War…Netanyahu’s perfect definition of himself. So who will define him by peace?
26.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Karam Nama

Sheikh Jarrah: How ceasefires enable Israel’s quiet annexation

Sheikh Jarrah: How ceasefires enable Israel’s quiet annexation
26.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Farwa imtiaz

What if the West has been misreading Iran for 40 years?

What if the West has been misreading Iran for 40 years?
26.04.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Kurniawan Arif Maspul

Power, justice, and the decolonization of the global order

Power, justice, and the decolonization of the global order
26.04.2026 60

Middle East Monitor

Ranjan Solomon

Indonesia–Saudi power play: Why ACWA–Danantara must move beyond the MoU

Indonesia–Saudi power play: Why ACWA–Danantara must move beyond the MoU
26.04.2026 70

Middle East Monitor

Bhima Yudhistira

The Iranian people are not waiting to thank Trump

24.04.2026 50

Middle East Monitor

Michael harrison

Experts doubt on Milei’s push for the “Isaac Accords” in Israel’s favour

24.04.2026 90

Middle East Monitor

Eman Abusidu