Lebanon gives the world the alphabet & tabouleh

Gen. Michel Aoun came to Washington to drum up support for his bid for the presidency. He told a group of sympathizers gathered over lunch in Washington Tuesday that Lebanon is a country with great ingenuity; "We gave the world the alphabet and Tabouleh," said the former general.

North Korea assists Iran in building nukes

Iran is building nuclear-warhead capable missiles with help from North Korean experts in a vast underground complex near Tehran. The project, initiated at the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1989, involves dozens of immense tunnels and facilities built under the mountains near Tehran, Iranian opposition sources reported Monday. The information was first released in September, but the involvement of North Korean experts, and the report that Iran's missile production has reached an advanced stage, brings a new twist to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The two faces of Palestine

Assuming that peace is one day achieved between Israel and the Palestinians, the future State of Palestine will consist of two territories -- the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. But the two areas comprising what is known today as the Palestinian Authority could not be more dissimilar.

Major setbacks for Bush

PRESIDENT George W. Bush has suffered a number of political setbacks in recent weeks, the hardest of which was losing two key states to Democrats. Or was it the scandal involving his vice president's chief advisor? Or was it?

Jerusalem: Another brick in the Wall

Everything in the disputed Middle East, even naming something, is a complicated exercise. The Israelis call it the "security fence," the Palestinians refer to it as the "apartheid wall," and the United Nations calls it a "barrier." Others call it the "Jerusalem security envelope."

Interview with Bibi Netanyahu

Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, believes the rise of radical Islam is a real challenge to Israel and to the entire Western world. If left unchecked, Netanyahu cautions, the danger will only grow, and with dire consequences.

Gaza -- boiling away

Following Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, the area was left to its own demise.

Bashar Assad's game plan

Syrian President Bashar Assad may have raised the ante -- and the tension in the Middle East.

MOre to French riots than meets the eye

WHILE the 2007 French presidential elections are still a good 18 months away, campaigning has already started in earnest a little over two weeks ago in the troubled streets of blue-collared suburban townships ringing the French capital.

Al-Qaida claims Amman blasts

The three bombings in the Jordanian capital, Amman, demonstrates al-Qaida's persistence in pursuing its deadly plans in attacking American interests around the world while causing as many casualties as possible.

Bashar's choice

Bashar Assad is faced with a "Sophie's Choice" decision following a UN report naming his brother Maher and his brother-in-law Asef Shawqat as potential suspects in the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Women and a culture of peace

The role of women in a patriarchal society is a complicated one. Despite restrictions imposed by cultural traditions rather than religious diktat, Muslim women are not entirely the second-class citizens deprived of all rights, as so often portrayed in the West. And nor are non-Muslim women living in the Muslim world.

Paris-sur-Jungle

"Clichy-sur-Jungle" read an article in France's Liberation newspaper referring to the hooliganism, then in its second week, in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, one of the many troubled blue-collar townships that ring the French capital.

Europe's immigration migraines

Decades of liberal open-door immigration policies are bearing their mark on Europe's domestic politics, not to mention the demographics of the Old Continent.

Rhetoric and reaction

PRESIDENT George W. Bush was in trouble last week facing what was possibly the worst week of his tenure in the White House. It seemed as though everything was going wrong until help arrived from unexpected quarters — from Iran’s new hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

How the Grinch stole Eid

Eid-al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan is traditionally a time for rejoicing and forgiveness. All across the Muslim world, governments grant pardons to prisoners, releasing those who have committed lesser crimes. Yet Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is showing no such holiday spirit. He plans to celebrate the Eid, this very holy end of Ramadan, by killing two Moroccans who worked for their embassy in Baghdad.

A changing Middle East

The Bush administration is putting pressure on Syria to introduce change at the same time growing opposition in Syria is doing the same.

Syria and the usual suspects

While no specific threats were aimed at Damascus by the U.N. Security Council, it leaves no room for ambiguity -- Damascus must cooperate with the international community or face sanctions, or possibly even sterner measures.

Bush in indebted to Iran's Ahmadinejad

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel to be "wiped from the map" could not have come at a better time -- for George W. Bush -- and at a worse time for Iran.

The Hariri report and dangers of isolating Damascus

DAMASCUS is about to feel the heat of a joint US-French initiative at the United Nations to force the Assad regime to cooperate with the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.