AboutArticles by Michael Jansen

Food for thought

26 Aug 2021

Coffee is just one of the gifts the Arabs have given to the world. Cultivated and consumed in Yemen in the 15th century, the beverage gave birth to coffee houses where...

The endless agony of long-suffering Afghans

22 Aug 2021

The geo-political fallout from the chaotic and disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the human tragedy this will produce will haunt US presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Trump mandated...

Help in desperation

19 Aug 2021

On the day of his death last week, Italy’s La Stampa published an article by Italian surgeon Gino Strada who argued that the Taliban take-over of Afghanistan “shouldn’t surprise anyone...

Americans not doing enough on security

15 Aug 2021

The withdrawal from Afghanistan could be the worst US debacle of the 21st century. The first was, of course, the war on Iraq, which destabilised the whole of this region....

An aggressive line

12 Aug 2021

Afghan local governor Salima Mazari is a rare woman in the position she holds and is leading popular resistance to the Taliban which has already taken over half her district....

Ebrahim Raisi and Iran’s future strategy

08 Aug 2021

Iran’s former chief justice, Ebrahim Raisi, begins his first term as the Islamic Republic’s president in a weak position although he has the support of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,...

Too little, too late

05 Aug 2021

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi returned to Baghdad from his recent visit to Washington with a pledge from US President Joe Biden to end “US combat missions” in Iraq and...

Lebanon: The multiple crises-hit country

01 Aug 2021

The honeymoon between Lebanese President Michel Aoun and newly designated Prime Minister Najib Mikati lasted only four days. Mikati was initially upbeat about his appointment and projected optimism over the...

Richly space bound

29 Jul 2021

World Food Programme director David Beasley has repeatedly called on the world’s billionaires to feed the world’s starving rather than pursuing self-promoting space projects. Beasley launched the first of several broadsides at...

Tokyo Olympic Games and virus challenges

25 Jul 2021

The Tokyo Olympic Games are too big to fail but it remains to be seen whether the athletes or Covid will prevail. A second postponement or cancellation of the 2020...

Michael Jansen

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