AboutArticles by Michael Jansen

A clarion call to address the soil crisis

15 May 2022

April was a cruel month for this region. Fine dust from the Sahara and Sahel enveloped us all, causing eyes to water, coughing, sneezing, and driving delicate souls indoors. Fine...

To the polls

12 May 2022

Lebanese are set to go to the polls on Sunday 15th to choose 128 members of their national assembly from among 718 candidates, including 155 women and 88 between the...

80% of Lebanese live below poverty line

08 May 2022

Few Lebanese believe next Sunday’s parliamentary election will install enough reformers in the 128-member national assembly to effect change and save the country from the downward slide which began nearly...

Comparable to none

05 May 2022

My friends, Caroline and Peter, had urged me to brave covid on flights and visit them in Milan, Italy’s fashion and financial hub. As their seven-week stay in this metropolis...

Conflict is good for American business

01 May 2022

During his January 17th, 1961, farewell address US President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the threat posed to democratic government by the “military industrial complex,” formed by the military and the...

Global salvation

28 Apr 2022

Britain’s Sir David Attenborough has been honoured with a lifetime achievement Champion of the Earth award by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). This, the UN’s highest environmental award, has recognised...

Ukraine is losing heavily from conflict with Russia

24 Apr 2022

The politician who tried and failed to make peace with Hitler, ex-British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, said, “In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners,...

To the wire

21 Apr 2022

French voters go to the polls Sunday to elect their president at a time of deep divisions within the country. Incumbent centrist Emmanuel Macron, 44, remains the favourite with recent...

Ukraine grabs aid spotlight but needy nations suffer

17 Apr 2022

The war in Ukraine has not only captured the full attention of Western leaders but also gripped the world media since Russian troops crossed the frontier on February 24th. While...

A life of misery

14 Apr 2022

When I think of horses in Gaza the sad image which comes to mind is of a miserable, half starved creature, his ribs prominent and ears down, plodding ahead of...

Michael Jansen

The author, a well-respected observer of Middle East affairs, has three books on the Arab-Israeli conflict.