Israeli female soldier hostages wave before being handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza City.

Second hostage swap is a bitter pill for Netanyahu’s failed ambitions

For Israel’s prime minister,the safe release of four soldiers is only further proof that his ambitions for the Middle East have not been fully realised.

  • Amin Saikal

Latest

An opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus.

Syria’s new leaders say they’re a moderate force. Australia has labelled them terrorists

While the fall of the Assad regime is momentous for the Middle East,it’s doubtful Syrians will be entering a time of prolonged peace.

  • Amin Saikal
Trump and Netanyahu illo

In the Middle East,Trump can’t have his cake and eat it too

Benjamin Netanyahu may feel like he’s won the jackpot,but Donald Trump’s motto is that he ends wars,and does not start them.

  • Amin Saikal
An Israeli tank manoeuvres in northern Israel near the Israel-Lebanon border.

Iran put the ball in Netanyahu’s court. Now the world awaits his chosen retaliation

The use of force to generate favourable changes has never paid off in the Middle East,but an uncontrollable explosion can still be avoided.

  • Amin Saikal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during his meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.

The threat of an all-out regional inferno hangs over the Middle East

Israel’s decision to kill a top leader of Hamas on Iranian soil poured petrol onto a bonfire. The ramifications could be far-reaching and painful for us all.

  • Amin Saikal
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iran’s new president promises bold reform – under the watchful eye of Khamenei

A former heart surgeon has been named the next president of Iran. But his win,a response to growing social discontent,comes with strings attached.

  • Amin Saikal
Advertisement
<p>

Iran’s show of force has demonstrated that Israel is not invincible

This month’s military exchanges between Israel and Iran may have largely been a show of force,but they have sent a number of clear messages about any future conflict.

  • Amin Saikal
The US let a United Nations Security resolution pass,marking an unprecedented rift in the US-Israel relationship.

Netanyahu has been given two options by the US. Both come at a high price

No Israeli leader has leveraged American support more than Netanyahu to pursue a self-centred anti-Palestinian policy. Yet,US-Israeli relations are now experiencing an unprecedented rift.

  • Amin Saikal
China’s President Xi Jinping.

What China’s blossoming relationship with the Taliban says about its long-game

Through an alliance with Iran and burgeoning ties with Afghanistan,Beijing is looking past the Indo-Pacific and toward another region.

  • Amin Saikal
US President Joe Biden has vowed a response to strikes that killed American military personnel in Jordan.

How Iran and the US could end up in a war neither of them really want

The Biden administration’s unshakeable support of Israel and Tehran’s resolve to protect its interests have brought the protagonists to a flashpoint.

  • Amin Saikal