February 19, 2026
Middle East
Iran MENA News Middle East North America Opinion Politics

Trump’s betrayal of the Iranian people and Qatar’s role in safeguarding the regime

by Giovanni Giacalone The US President Donald Trump is at it again. The first time, he betrayed the Iranian people by inciting them to demonstrate and “take over the institutions”, promising a “help” that never arrived. He first threatened the regime with retaliation if it kept slaughtering demonstrators and then, he backed off, stating that […]

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GCC Iran MENA News Middle East Opinion

When Fear Becomes Strategy: How Iran and Its Proxies Rewrote Deterrence in the Middle East

By Amb. Dr. Mohamed Qubaty For more than a decade, the Middle East has lived under a paradox that is rarely acknowledged explicitly: the more the international community fears escalation, the longer destabilizing actors survive. What was once presented as prudence and restraint has gradually evolved into a strategic pattern of hesitation, in which avoiding […]

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MENA News Middle East Opinion Politics

From Frozen Front to Strategic Flashpoint: Hodeidah and the End of UNMHA

By Amb. Dr. Mohamed Qubaty The Security Council’s move reflects a broader realization: partial conflict management has failed, and the Red Sea crisis is forcing a recalibration of Yemen strategy. The Failure of the Freeze The UN Security Council’s move to terminate the UN Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) is being framed in […]

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Africa Art & Culture MENA News Middle East Opinion Sports

Morocco as a Model of an Organized State: Sporting Achievement as a Strategic Tool of Soft Power

by Karim Ben Allal In the world of international politics, sporting tournaments are no longer merely athletic competitions or entertainment events. They have become strategic platforms for showcasing state competence, enhancing credibility, and building symbolic and cultural influence. Morocco’s organization of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 represents a unique model of this smart strategy, […]

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GCC Iran Israel MENA News Middle East Opinion Politics

Trump’s Middle East fiascos to satisfy Qatar

by Giovanni Giacalone The Middle East is in turmoil as the Kurds in the north-east of Syria are being massacred by al-Jolani’s jihadists while prisoners belonging to ISIS are escaping from prisons. In Gaza, Hamas is rebuilding its forces and gathering weapons for a new offensive against Israel. In Lebanon, Hezbollah did not disarm and […]

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China Middle East North America Opinion Politics Russia

Statecraft and Faultlines 6: Low-Trust Partnerships and High-Stakes Blocs

by Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Irina Tsukerman Irina Tsukerman is a human rights and national security attorney based in New York and Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in National and Intercultural Studies and Middle East Studies from Fordham University in 2006, followed by a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in […]

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GCC MENA News Middle East News Opinion Politics

What’s Happening in South Arabia?

By Ahmed Atef, Ph.D At the beginning The Federation of South Arabia was the name of a country located at the south of Yemen and was under British rule for 129 years (from 1839 to 1967). The South Arabian delegation who negotiated the agreement of independence in November 1967 opted to change the name of […]

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Europe Israel MENA News Middle East News Politics

“Operation Domino”: The widespread Hamas network uncovered in Italy

by Giovanni Giacalone On Saturday, December 27, the Italian State Police and the Financial Guard arrested seven Palestinians suspected of collecting millions of euros in support of Hamas. Authorities also issued international arrests for two others outside the country. Three associations, officially supporting Palestinian civilians but allegedly serving as a front for funding Hamas, are […]

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MENA News Middle East Opinion

Managing Escalation by Losing It: One Year On from America’s Yemen Mistake

By Amb. Dr. Mohamed Qubaty How restraint without Yemeni leverage turned crisis management into a doctrine of permanent escalation. One year after early warnings that U.S. restraint in Yemen was backfiring, the Red Sea crisis has become less an emergency than a condition—managed, mitigated, and endlessly postponed, but never resolved. What was once treated as […]

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Europe MENA News Middle East Politics

When some members of the Italian Catholic Church cannot distinguish “opinion” from “support for terrorism”

by Giovanni Giacalone           On Friday, December 12, 2025, Turin’s Appeal Court released an Egyptian imam who was being held in a detention center for illegal aliens in Sicily awaiting to be deported by order of the Italian Ministry of Interior. The individual, 47-year-old Mohamed Mahmoud Ibrahim Shahin, had been preaching […]

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