The Middle East Powder Keg
Fragile ceasefires are holding for now, but the volatile region may be headed for another explosion next year.
Benny Morris
· 14 min read
Lebanon
A collection of 15 posts
The Middle East Will Not Improve
Decades of free riding has meant that many Middle East countries lack the skills and institutions necessary to maintain and build upon the favourable circumstances in which they now find themselves.
Eric Bordenkircher
· 10 min read
The Druse Connection
The ongoing Arab–Israeli war appears to be entering a new escalatory phase, in which the eye of the storm has shifted to Syria and Yemen, as well as back to Gaza.
Benny Morris
· 11 min read
The New Middle East
The Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 set a series of events in motion that have shifted the balance of power in the region in a way the terrorists themselves never intended.
Benny Morris
· 13 min read
Syria and the Changing Global Calculus
Iran and Russia have suffered serious setbacks over the past year, but grave dangers remain.
Joshua Muravchik
· 19 min read
After the Ceasefire
The new state of play in Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas, following the US-brokered ceasefire with Lebanon, the weakening of Hezbollah, and the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Benny Morris
· 10 min read
From Terror Tunnels to Suicide Drones
Military innovations in the current Middle East conflict are changing the nature of warfare and are likely to be widely copied around the world in the future.
Benny Morris
· 12 min read
Useless UNIFIL
Were Hezbollah to disappear tomorrow, the world would be a safer place. Instead, thanks to UNIFIL’s failure to fulfil its mandate, the Middle East is on the precipice of a war of unprecedented destruction.
Josh Feldman
· 8 min read
Over-Learning the Lessons of Iraq
Russia, Iran, and the failure of US resolve.
Oscar Clarke
· 10 min read
A Measure of Justice in Beirut
The decapitation of Lebanese Hezbollah is a cause for celebration well beyond the borders of Israel.
Brian Stewart
· 8 min read
The Grim Beeper: Hezbollah’s Exploding Tech
How Mossad and the IDF managed to turn Hezbollah’s technology against them and what happens next in the ongoing conflict.
Benny Morris
· 12 min read
The Pros and Cons of Targeted Killing
By striking Shukur and Haniyeh in the capital cities of Lebanon and Iran respectively, Israel has sent Iran a humiliating and painful message.
Andrew Fox
· 11 min read
Shadow Boxing: The Conflict Between Iran and Israel
The mini-war between Israel and Iran’s proxies has gradually begun to approach open Israeli-Iranian conflict, and the threat of an all-out, full-scale war is now palpable.
Benny Morris
· 18 min read
The Feckless Lebanese State
American money and goodwill cannot fix a state when its own people refuse to make the sacrifices necessary to establish and defend effective, efficient, and responsible governance.
Eric Bordenkircher
· 8 min read
The Fall of Beirut
Calling Hezbollah merely a terror group is too simplistic, and nothing in Lebanon is ever simple or easy to explain.
Art Keller
· 11 min read