Is China Becoming a Political Player in the Middle East?

China saw Israel’s war in Gaza as an opportunity to gain traction in the Middle East at the expense of the United States, but is it ready to become a serious political actor in the region?

A Pacifism for Our Times

By Antonio Patriota /

Growing trends of unilateralism are encouraging violence and threatening a systemic breakdown of international law and order. Change must come, and soon

A Reading on the Future of Hamas

By Omar Shaban / Summer 2024

The aftermath of October 7, and assassination of senior commanders, has forced an existential rethink within Hamas

Hamas “From the Heart of Battle”: Analyzing Abu Obaida’s Discourse

By Erwin van Veen and Sophia Agathocleous / Summer 2024

The frames and focus of the speeches of Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida reveal the group’s strategic goals and the psychological warfare used to achieve them.

The Court Rules: Occupation Illegal

By Abigail Flynn /

What does the advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice tell us and why is it important?

Is Israel’s Star Fading in Latin America?

By Jodor Jalit / Summer 2024

The Latin American response to Israel’s war on Gaza could help strengthen the rich but neglected cultural ties with Arab states

Looking Backward into The Future: Why the United Nations Has Failed to Prevent Genocide

By Gregory H. Stanton / Summer 2024

At its root, genocide is committed through a lack of empathy, and it has failed to be prevented by a lack of political will. It is time to reverse those failings by rethinking our systems and challenging our assumptions.

Don’t Forget About the Red Sea

By Burak Şakir Şeker / Summer 2024

A widening of Israel’s War on Gaza could threaten the vital Red Sea waterway and lead to a global economic crisis

China Tests the Water in Palestinian Diplomacy

By Ramzy Baroud / Summer 2024

While the ramifications of the recent unity agreement signed in Beijing by multiple Palestinian factions remain to be seen, it is evident that China has stepped up as a leader in the region

The Olympics: Arenas of Contention

By Jung Woo Lee / Summer 2024

Political tensions simmered under the facade of international communion at the Paris 2024 Games as countries competed both on and off the stage

Iranians Don’t Want a War With Israel

By Kourosh Ziabari / Summer 2024

Most believe that Tehran’s engagement in the battle for Palestinian emancipation is intrusive and uncalled for

Why Hamas Cannot Be Destroyed

By Grace Wermenbol / Summer 2024

Israel’s strategy to eradicate Hamas by killing off its leadership has proven ineffective for decades; the current war demonstrates the myopic nature of this approach

Politics of Apathy and All-Out War in the Post-Gaza New World

By Abdalhadi Alijla / Summer 2024

The genocidal campaign against the Gaza Strip threatens widening of the conflict into a regional war, creating new realities that may endure for decades

Less Than a State

By Sean Lee / Summer 2024

Without a new framework that ensures true sovereignty and security for a future Palestinian state, the two-state solution will remain a farce

Iran’s Election: Reality Versus the Dominant Narrative

By Massoud Hedeshi /

The primary discourse on Iran’s politics obscures its nuanced reality through binary and inaccurate labels of “moderate” and “hardliner”; examining this framework reveals a deep Western insecurity about Iran’s and the Global South’s rising power

The World Fears Wider War After Hamas Leader’s Assassination

The international community races to reduce tension after a series of targeted killings carried out by Israel

Prioritizing Palestinian Self-Determination is Long Overdue

By Omar Auf / Summer 2024

The discussion about a one-state or two-state solution must be preceded by efforts to facilitate exercise of the right to self-determination by the Palestinian people. Only then can a realistic solution be genuinely pursued.

The War in Sudan—with Amira Ahmed and Manuel Schwab: CR Amplified ep. 2

By Abigail Flynn /

The war in Sudan is entering its second year. In 2019, Sudan witnessed a massive popular revolution that ousted its former president, Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled for over two decades. Sudanese civilians were key in bringing down al-Bashir and establishing a civilian government in his place. Two armed organizations also played an important role in the revolution: the government’s military, called Sudanese Armed Forces, known as the SAF, and the paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, » Read more about: The War in Sudan—with Amira Ahmed and Manuel Schwab: CR Amplified ep. 2 »

Egypt’s Balancing Act

By Karim Haggag /

Jon Alterman: Karim Haggag, welcome to Babel.
Karim Haggag: Thank you Jon, thank you for having me. It’s great to be with you.
Jon Alterman: Egypt has had a security focus on the Israeli border since the creation of Israel in 1948. Help us understand the context. How does the current Egyptian concern over Gaza rank among the various crises that Egypt has felt on its border with Israel over the last 75 years?
Karim Haggag: This is a fundamentally different challenge than the large-scale armed conflicts that Egypt fought with Israel over the years, » Read more about: Egypt’s Balancing Act »

World Refugee Day Highlights Growing Challenges

By Abigail Flynn /

The growing rate of refugees across the globe constitutes an international crisis. Supporting these displaced people requires acknowledging the consequences of conflict and building resilient frameworks to protect refugee rights

Climate Change, Conflict, and Gender Inequality in the MENA Region

By Zeina Moneer / Spring 2024

Climate change—in the absence of legal and social protections—works as a threat multiplier that perpetuates gender inequalities and worsens socio-economic injustices in the MENA region

War on Palestine Underscores the Supremacy of Geopolitics

By Omar Auf / Spring 2024

Why do states ignore violations of international law in Gaza?

In Targeting UNRWA, Israel Aims to Destroy the Right of Return

By Daoud Kuttab / Spring 2024

Hoping to capitalize on world sympathy after October 7, Israel tried to use its allies to defund and dismantle the UN relief agency.

Children’s “Right to Play” In Gaza

By Ana Davis / Spring 2024

Like children everywhere, Gaza’s boys and girls should be playing and enjoying their childhoods, but the actions of the Israeli government and military make that impossible

The Gendering of Sudan’s Brutal War

By Nafisa Bedri and Tamsin Bradley / Spring 2024

Any analysis of the sexual violence and unfolding genocide must highlight the extent to which the media is still using an orientalist gaze to report on the war in Sudan

Navigating the Politics of Humanitarian Aid in Gaza

By Shatha Abdulsamad / Spring 2024

Despite Israeli efforts to destroy it, UNRWA remains an embodiment of international responsibility for the question of Palestinian refugees, and a reminder of their inalienable right of return.

UNRWA After October 7: Building a Comprehensive Response Framework for Palestinian Refugees

By Lex Takkenberg / Spring 2024

UNRWA’s future cannot be considered in isolation—a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approach, with displacement issues at its center, is now necessary.

Scrolling Social Media Sentiments on the Gaza War

By Ayusha Chalise /

Despite efforts of platforms like Meta to curb political content generally, frustration and sympathy for both sides of Israel’s War on Gaza continues to run deep among users

UNRWA Funding is Burdened with Conditionality

By Anne Irfan / Spring 2024

The UN agency’s essential humanitarian role lies in the balance thanks to the political contingencies of its donors.

Hegemonic Reasoning Fueled the Russia-Ukraine War

By F. Andrew Wolf Jr. /

With the Cold War at an end for over 30 years, how is it that the US still perceives Russia as a threat?

The Implementation Crisis—with Richard Falk

By Omar Auf /

International law scholar Richard Falk discusses international law and politics as they pertain to the ongoing genocide committed by Israel in Gaza and the wider Palestinian plight, in addition to UN reform.

In Darkness All is Black: Exploring the Realities of Violence by the Israeli State and Hamas

By Erwin van Veen / Winter 2024

The events of October 7 and beyond raise a major ethical question: by what standard is the violence that Hamas uses against Israel different from the violence that the Israeli state uses against Hamas?

Radicalization and Regional Instability: Effects of the Gaza War

By Mamoun Fandy / Winter 2024

As Israel attempts to reestablish its identity as a regional deterrent by destroying Gaza, the effects of its campaign cascade through the region, shifting political alignments, and generating new concerns over radicalization and conflict spillover

Gaza: Israel’s Unwinnable War

By Richard Silverstein / Winter 2024

Even if, for argument’s sake, it achieved its war goals, Palestinian resistance will exist wherever there are Palestinians—whether in Sinai, Beirut, Ankara, Tehran or Amman

Hamas, ISIL, and Israel: An Exercise in Comparison

By Ayman Zaineldine / Winter 2024

One of Israel’s main responses to the October 7 attacks was to declare that “Hamas is ISIL,” and that the world should thus unite in support for Israel to eliminate it. But others are not sure, and ask whether Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, and its practices as an occupying power, is even more worthy of global sanction

Security and Peace After the War in Gaza

By Ibrahim Awad / Winter 2024

Is the two-state solution feasible? In order to pursue such a policy, the international community must be able to overcome three main points of contention: Israeli occupation, the creation of a Palestinian state, and the role of Hamas

A Palestinian Gandhi or an Israeli de Gaulle? Why the Context of Violence Matters

By Sharif Elmusa / Winter 2024

Questioning why there hasn’t been a Palestinian Gandhi or Mandela ignores the history and context in which Palestinian resistance occurs, especially the abiding violence visited on the Palestinians since 1917

The EU’s Response to the Gaza War Is a Tale of Contradiction and Division

By Martin Konečný / Winter 2024

In the face of worst-ever Israeli–Palestinian violence, Europe’s selective moralism has also led to strategic blindness

Is There Hope for Gaza Under International Law?

By Abigail Flynn / Winter 2024

Why has international law failed to hold Israel responsible for its destruction of Gaza? It was built to enable the colonizer, not to protect the colonized, explains legal expert Jason Beckett.

Expelling Palestinians From Gaza Is Playing With Fire

By Karim Haggag and Omar Auf /

A mass population transfer of Palestinian refugees in Gaza to Egypt would not only entail significant security risks for Egypt, but also make Egypt complicit in Israel’s policy of bringing about a second Nakba

From Gaza to Regional War? – with Abdalhadi Alijla

By Nadeen Shaker /

What is the next step in the Gaza War now that an Israeli drone has killed a Hamas leader in Beirut? A spillover in Lebanon? The entire region? Europe? The United States has a role to play in preventing the war from escalating, but what if it does not intervene? Today’s episode is with Abdalhadi Alijla, Palestinian political scientist and rebel governance expert, who tells us more about the worst-case scenarios of the war on Gaza, and how the war’s objectives are slightly shifting.

Nakba 2.0 – with Sharif ElMusa

By Nadeen Shaker /

For almost all Palestinians, the current war on Gaza strongly evokes the Nakba, when Palestinians were forced to flee their homeland in 1948 following the creation of the state of Israel. As 1.9 million people are currently displaced in Gaza, many believe they are reliving the Nakba in its worst forms. In today’s episode, we hear from Sharif ElMusa, professor emeritus at the American University in Cairo, Palestinian poet, and Nakba survivor.

“We Lost Our Dignity in this War” – with Nour Swirki

By Nadeen Shaker /

Some analysts have called Gaza a “news grave” because of the killing of journalists and their families, and the destruction of media outlets and communication infrastructure. For journalists on the ground in Gaza, the barriers are insurmountable, especially when they are fighting to survive themselves. On today’s episode, we hear from Nour Swirki, one of the few last standing journalists in Gaza about her own story of displacement, and about how she is able to continue doing her job during what she calls “a war against anything Palestinian…against our existence.”

Egypt’s Catch-22 in Gaza: Threats and Opportunities

By Khaled Mansour /

What are Egypt’s top policy challenges should Palestinians in Gaza have no choice but to seek safety in Egypt?

Peace Needs a New Balfour Declaration—A “Biden Declaration”

By Abderahman Salaheldin and Michael Harari /

U.S. President Joe Biden should issue a declaration spelling out a one-year plan that would end with launching negotiations for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian State.

Gaza Conflict Cascading Effects: The Rafah Question

By Maryam El-Prince /

Egypt has described the latest suggestions by members of the Israeli Knesset for a “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians across the world as a “full-fledged war crime”. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry lambasted the idea—endorsed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich—and said that Israel’s “deliberate targeting” of civilians is tantamount to a forced evacuation.
The idea that Palestinians should find somewhere else to call home has resurfaced as Israel’s bombing of Gaza enters its sixth week, » Read more about: Gaza Conflict Cascading Effects: The Rafah Question »