Middle East & North Africa

US Sanctions, and Iran Sanctions in Particular, Are Just
US Sanctions, and Iran Sanctions in Particular, Are Just

The US is employing just war considerations of proportionality and discrimination in the course of its employment of sanctions. That doesn’t mean there won’t be disheartening impacts on innocents. But we should be clear about who should receive the blame and insist, vigorously, that point is not lost.

Here We Go Again and Again - War on Terror - 9/11
Afghanistan and The Taliban: Here We Go Again and Again

If history is any guide, we will regret abandoning Afghanistan (again), trusting the Taliban and disengaging from the world around us.

The Deal of the Century and the Spirit of the Nineties
The Deal of the Century & the Spirit of the Nineties

With its “Deal of the Century,” the Trump administration stands to repeat the central mistake of which it has accused the rosy idealists of peace dividends past.

UN Inefficiency Revealed Again, This Time in Syria
UN Inefficiency Revealed Again, This Time in Syria

Though the UN’s job, according to its charter, is to maintain international peace and security, protect human rights, deliver humanitarian aid, promote sustainable development, and uphold international law, the organization is becoming increasingly ineffective in all these areas. And now people like Ahmad see help from the UN as a dangerous mistake.

What Ilhan Omar’s Israel Affair Can Teach Americans about Respecting Islam

Is it possible that the partisan quarrel about the rightness or wrongness of Ilhan Omar’s actions is really a hidden debate about the “Islamic Question” that still remains unresolved 18 years after September 11, 2001? As the election cycle heats up, Republicans and Democrats are likely to dance around this question’s two sub-questions: How do we deal with the Islamic world, and how do we deal with Islam inside our borders? The answers to both should be characterized by a single word: respect.

How Can Christians and Muslims Improve the Middle East?

Ignoring the democracy versus pluralism dilemma fails to address the core issue facing both communities at the onset and consequently will not yield a Middle East friendlier to human rights and religious liberty. This debate is one that governments and politicians themselves cannot lead. Civil society is where this discussion must take place, and believers themselves are the ones who should lead it.

New York Times Ignores Silwan’s Jewish Origins

To the New York Times, Silwan is just another Palestinian village that the Zionist Settler Colonial Enterprise is undermining, literally. But the village has Jewish origins, and archeological discoveries there are important to both Jews and Christians.

Afghan Buddhas & America’s July 4 Character

In time for Independence Day, on July 3 The Washington Post reported on the ongoing restoration of hundreds of ancient…

Rehabilitation and Education for Former Militants is the New Battle in Syria
Rehabilitation and Education for Former Militants is the New Battle in Syria

Though Syria still struggles with violence and fighting, the Islamic State’s territorial holdings have been almost completely eradicated. But while ISIS may no longer have physical control in the country, it has left young militants and a dangerous, extremist ideology.