AboutArticles by Michael Jansen

UAE presence in Syrian fair boosts Arab ties

01 Sep 2019

Syrians enthusiastically received the Emirati and Omani delegations to the Damascus International Fair which opened on August 28th. The sight of white thobes and kuffiyeh and agal and Omani turbans...

Egypt in the West

29 Aug 2019

Fatima Said made her singing debut at 14 at the Cairo Opera House and had progressed to become the first Egyptian soprano to win a scholarship to study at the...

Vladimir Putin has begun to reel in Tayyip Erdogan

25 Aug 2019

Moscow last week demonstrated that Russia is unwilling to tolerate Turkey’s efforts to sabotage Syria’s repeatedly postponed campaign to recapture the country’s north-western Idlib province from al-Qaeda and its allies....

America's new squad makes waves

22 Aug 2019

Four high-profile freshmen members of Congress, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, dubbed the “Squad,” are making waves in Washington and rocking the status quo boat. They...

Israel ban makes Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar heroes

18 Aug 2019

Israel’s ban on the entry to Palestine of two US Muslim Congresswomen should wake the world to the urgent need for independent entry and exit channels for both visitors to...

Roots and Runners

15 Aug 2019

Profiles of Western white male supremacists are very similar to profiles of young men recruited by Daesh, al-Qaeda and fellow radicals. Many if not most of these men are uneducated...

Trump’s acts have simply stoked Daesh’s revival

11 Aug 2019

Michael Jansen, Political Correspondent The Pentagon’s inspector general has issued a report saying that Daesh, which still can field 14,000 to 18,000 fighters, is reviving in Syria and Iraq....

The real curse

08 Aug 2019

The tragic death of 22-year old Saoirse Kennedy Hill, a grandniece of slain President John Kennedy, has reminded the US and the world that the US was once led by...

UN Relief and Works Agency must continue its work

04 Aug 2019

UNRWA, the UN agency providing for Palestinian refugees has always had a precarious existence because Israel and its allies have insisted the refugees must be integrated by host countries and...

The sinking city

01 Aug 2019

Venice is responding to siege by tourists by deporting visitors who violate recently-introduced rules governing their behaviour. Last week two German backpackers were fined $1,058 (Dhs3,886) and told to leave...

Michael Jansen

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