AboutArticles by Michael Jansen

Iran vulnerable to sabotage on several fronts

12 Jul 2020

Half a dozen explosions and fires over the past six weeks at Iranian nuclear, armaments, and electricity facilities and a hospital in north Tehran have rattled the government and shaken...

The Divided States of America

10 Jul 2020

Last weekend’s commemorations of the holiday marking the founding of the US 244 years ago was like none which had gone before. Division rather than unity marked July the 4th....

Palestinian factions joining forces not a reconciliation

05 Jul 2020

The decision by Fatah and Hamas to join forces to resist Israel’s annexation of portions of the West Bank and “topple” Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century” could be a...

A history of hardships

03 Jul 2020

The American University of Beirut, the region’s oldest and most prestigious foreign institution of higher learning, is facing three existential challenges: the collapse of Lebanon’s economy, the stinginess of the ignorant, malevolent...

Israel does not think Palestinian Lives Matter

28 Jun 2020

British statesman Winston Churchill once said people should not be praised for not doing something they should not have done in the first place. This certainly fits the election campaign...

A dangerous game

26 Jun 2020

By deploying Turkish troops in the Arab world, the most dangerous man in this region, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is following the bad example of “the most dangerous man in the...

Donald Trump under siege from all quarters

21 Jun 2020

“The most dangerous man in the world” has received reversals which could encourage fearful Republican politicians and officials to distance themselves from him. A man always on the offensive, Donald...

Fighting with history

19 Jun 2020

The causal link between colonialism and racism has been made during global protests against the murder by white police of George Floyd, a black man, in the US state of...

US bid to destroy Syria is a recipe for disaster

14 Jun 2020

Decision-makers in Washington design policies for the Eastern Arab World on a country-by-country basis and all too clearly do not take into consideration the consequences for neighbours and the wider...

The call for change

11 Jun 2020

George Floyd’s life followed the trajectory of many slain black men but his death has launched a revolution. His 6-year-old daughter Gianna, who used to ride sky high on his shoulders,...

Michael Jansen

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