AboutArticles by Michael Jansen

Ankara’s position on Syria is far from healthy

28 Jul 2019

Ankara’s policies on Syria over the past eight years have been disastrous for that country, the region and Turkey itself. At every stage of the crisis that has enveloped Syria,...

Skirting Conflagration

26 Jul 2019

The newly-elected top European Union (EU) leaders who take office on Nov.1 are no more likely to adopt and implement region-friendly policies than their predecessors were. The constraints remain the...

Britain’s anger over tanker’s seizure is misplaced

21 Jul 2019

Britain’s outrage over the seizure by Iranian naval commandos of an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz is misplaced. Britain launched the tanker-snatching competition on July 4th when Royal...

Up in arms

19 Jul 2019

Four months after the March massacre of 51 Muslim men, women and children in two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, gun owners have begun exchanging military-style semi-automatic weapons...

Trump is a monarch and not president

14 Jul 2019

Donald Trump’s contradictory foreign policies have angered, alarmed and, even, amused both world leaders and concerned citizens who follow his antics and pronouncements in public events and via twitter. Since...

Rightful status bestowed

12 Jul 2019

Babylon has belatedly been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the international cultural organisation, 36 years after Baghdad applied for the designation. Successive Iraqi governments have pressed for recognition...

Resentment against Syrian refugees is rising

07 Jul 2019

Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey have adopted different policies on the war in Syria but are united in seeking repatriation for the millions of Syrian refugees who have settled in these...

Erdogan suffers stunning defeat

05 Jul 2019

Metropolitan Istanbul’s new mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu has pledged to cooperate with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but has warned the government not to attempt to obstruct promised reforms. Imamoglu won the...

Kushner’s plan is glossy, but not realistic

30 Jun 2019

The Palestinian Authority and business community boycott finished off the credibilty of last week’s US workshop convened in Bahrain to discuss the Trump administration’s economic plan for Palestine, Egypt’s northern...

Two 'Anglo' clowns on the world stage

27 Jun 2019

If Boris Johnson becomes Britain’s next prime minister, as seems likely, there will be two “Anglo” clowns on the world stage. The US’ Donald Trump being the first to appear. ...

Michael Jansen

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