In principle, international sporting competitions should be open to all nations with absolutely no exceptions. Countries that refuse to abide by this golden rule should be forbidden to host such events and banned from competing in them, period. Which brings us to the speed chess championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which took place from December […]
Two interlinked wars may be coming to the Middle East. Either could break out within a few years’ time. One conflict will pit Israel against an Iranian-led coalition based in Lebanon and Syria. Another may well erupt between Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies in the Persian Gulf on the one side, and Iran and […]
The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 was a defining moment in the leadup to World War II. Pitting two diametrically opposed ideologies against each other, the three-year conflict was ostensibly a struggle between the left-of-center Republicans and the right-wing Nationalists. On a broader level, it was effectively a proxy war between the fascism […]
As about one million Muslim refugees from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan poured into Germany in 2015 and 2016, commentators congratulated the German government for its spirit of empathy and generosity. Not every German agreed with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy, but a vocal minority of Germans who welcomed the migrants left the distinct impression […]
Israel is haunted by the specter of tunnels. For years now, Israel has been consumed by the fear that Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza Strip will sneak into Israeli territory through tunnels and attack border communities in murderous raids that will cause multiple casualties. Palestinian tunnels have been on Israel’s mind especially since the summer of […]
Cole Porter’s jaunty song, I Love Paris in the Springtime, came to mind as I strolled along Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Paris’ signature thoroughfare. It was early spring, the weather was still cool, and a pale sun shone as I savored the sights and sounds of a great European city pulsating with vitality. I had been in […]
People know that the status of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, partitioned between Greek and Turkish Cypriots since 1974, is the main impediment to good relations between Greece and Turkey, their respective mainland co-religionists. But there are other contentious issues between Athens and Ankara, dating back decades, and something that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan […]
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been shooting off his mouth again. Since Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Turkish president has been vocal in his denunciations of his move. But while condemning the American president, Erdogan has gone out of his way to demonize Israel, which restored full diplomatic relations with Turkey in […]
A new kind of insidious antisemitism, far different than the familiar variety of old, has emerged as hopes for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict have been dashed by realities on the ground. Responding to President Donald Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, pro-Palestinian youths went on a rampage in three European cities, erasing […]
The second season of The Crown, a Netflix presentation, is a heady, entertaining mixture of drama and melodrama crowned by sharply nuanced performances and lavish sets, judging by the first six episodes. Like the introductory season, Peter Morgan’s series hangs on the shoulders of one indomitable character, Queen Elizabeth II, the capable sovereign who still commands the destiny […]