Published by the National The wildfires currently rolling through southern California have brought unprecedented damage to the Golden State and dominated global headlines. Thousands of miles away from the US, in Iran, the wildfires have become the subject of a revealing political debate between the country’s divergent political factions. It can be seen as a …
Published on my Substack Last September, I spent a week in Lisbon, long one of my favorite cities. I was there for a conference, but I knew I have a lot of free time and had decided to use it to engage in being what I love most: a flaneur. I had flaneured in Lisbon …
Published by the Atlantic The Iranian presidency seems to be a cursed position. Of the eight men who have held it before the current president, five eventually found themselves politically marginalized after their term finished. Two others fell to violent deaths in office (a bomb attack in 1981, a helicopter crash in 2024). The only exception is …
چهار سال ریاستجمهوری کارتر اینقدر مملو از رویدادها و تصمیمات بزرگ است که تا ابد مورد مناقشه باشد جیمی کارتر، سی و نهمین رئیسجمهور آمریکا و برنده جایزه صلح نوبل، در سن ۱۰۰ سالگی در منزلش در شهر کوچک پلینز در ایالت جورجیا درگذشت. برای ایرانیان او تا ابد به عنوان رئیسجمهوری به یاد خواهد …
Published in Al Majalla أسابيع فقط تفصل دونالد ترمب عن البيت الأبيض، وعيون العالم تتفحص كل قرار يتخذه عن كثب وبدقة. ومعروف عن ترمب أنه لا يمكن التنبؤ بسلوكه، ولا سيما في سياسته حيال الشرق الأوسط. لذا يدقق المراقبون في الشخصيات التي يرشحها، ويتابعون التصريحات التي يدلي بها فريقه الآخذ في التشكل، كي يكوِّنوا تصورا عن …
Published by Al Majalla Donald Trump is still a few weeks away from the White House, but every decision he makes is watched closely by a host of stakeholders around the world. What we do know is that the president-elect is notoriously unpredictable, especially when it comes to Middle East policy. Observers are thus looking into his …
Published by the Atlantic Iran’s Axis of Resistance, an informal coalition of anti-Western and anti-Israeli militias, was already having a terrible year. But the loss of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad may have dealt the knockout blow. Syria was both the organizing ground and the proof of concept for the Axis. Assad owed his throne …
Published by the Atlantic A carnival of joy has erupted in Syria with the fall of the strongman Bashar al-Assad. Syrians have waited a long time and paid a heavy price for this jubilation. Thirteen years ago, the country’s revolution began with peaceful demonstrations; since then, by one estimate, more than 600,000 Syrians have lost their lives. …
Published by the Atlantic Until last week, Syria’s civil war was a classic example of a “frozen conflict”: A cease-fire in 2020 had stanched the fighting, but the sides had reached no permanent political settlement. Little happened that rose to the level of active warfare—and yet the country could not really have been said to …