Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Mustafa Fetouri
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Beyond jargon: Tripoli’s ‘Supreme Authority’ is a self-preservation plot, not a co-ordinating framework
The Libyan political landscape, long defined by competing governments and institutional fragmentation, has recently delivered its most rent—and perhaps most confounding—invention yet: the Supreme Authority of the Presidencies (in Arabic, al-Hay’at al-‘Ulyā lil-Riyāsāt). Announced on 20 November 2025, in Tripoli, this body emerged from an agreement between the heads of…
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One funeral, one birth: From Cheney’s dark shadows to Mamdani’s bright horizon
In the span of just twenty-four hours, two events unfolded that seemed to bookend an era. On 3 November 2025, Dick Cheney—the chief architect of America’s forever wars—died, bringing to a close the life of a man whose decisions reshaped the Middle East through force, fear, and extraordinary violence. The…
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Haftar’s “Libyan solution”: A sovereignty claim or a power grab?
For months now, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has been pushing to further legitimize his long-standing grip on power in Libya’s eastern and parts of southern regions. The general—who launched what he and his supporters called the Karama (“Dignity”) Revolution in May 2014—has always had one overriding ambition: to rule Libya.…
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Israel in peace and war: How society rejects peace and endorses genocide
Israel’s vaunted commitment to justice—and its long-held brag of having “the most ethical army in the world”—collapsed spectacularly this week. The scandal traces back to July 2024, when surveillance footage from the Sde Teiman detention centre captured Israeli soldiers raping a Palestinian detainee, who later suffered severe injuries. Earlier this…
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Libya at the mercy of regional powers: Where is Washington?
Fourteen years after NATO helped destroy Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, Libya remains fractured, ungovernable, and exposed. Over the years, the once stable and peaceful country has become a battleground for regional powers, often tacitly encouraged by superpowers, including Washington and Moscow — with the former increasingly ceding the lead or remaining…
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Is Libya’s UN-facilitated political process stalling again?
When Hanna Tetteh, the new UN envoy to Libya, unveiled her “roadmap for renewed political consensus” on 21 August, it was meant to signal a fresh start after years of stagnation. She assumed that two months, a kind of self-imposed deadline, would be enough to implement the first stage of…
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On the Nobel Peace Prize’s troubling drift
When Alfred Bernhard Nobel composed his final will in Paris on 27 November 1895, he committed nearly his entire fortune to a bold and idealistic experiment. He directed that “all of my remaining realisable assets … constitute a fund, the interest on which is to be distributed annually as prizes…
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US 3Ps in Africa: Prosperity for Whom?
For all the fanfare surrounding the so-called 3Ps—Peace, Partnership, and Prosperity—being marketed by Washington’s new envoy to Africa, Massad Boulos, what is taking shape on the ground looks less like a genuine reset and more like the latest repackaging of an old project: US dominance over African priorities. In speeches…
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From battlefield to boardroom: Turkey’s grip on Libya
Over the past 14 years, Turkey’s involvement in Libya has shifted from a narrowly focused military intervention to a complex, multi-layered engagement that intertwines security, economic, mediation and political interests. Initially aimed at protecting allied factions and safeguarding strategic corridors, Ankara’s approach has gradually expanded to include Libya wide energy…
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Rhetoric vs. reality: The Doha summit and the Gulf’s limits on confronting Israel
When representatives from nearly 60 Arab and Muslim countries gathered in Doha on 15 September 2025 for an Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit—hastily convened after Israel’s 9 September airstrike that targeted Hamas leaders during a meeting in the Qatari capital—observers recognised the urgency but expected little action. The bitter truth is that…
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The excruciating wait: Tripoli on the brink of a war that may never happen
In Tripoli, the tense calm feels almost unbearable—residents live under the constant threat of sudden, brutal clashes that have become part of their daily routine for years now. The sprawling capital stands precariously on the edge of renewed violence. As the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) prepares to…
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A losing battle: Israel’s struggle against genocide scholars
The resolution, on 31 August, passed by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide has comes at the time when the occupation state is further isolated on the world stage with legal proceedings already in process before the two international courts: the International…
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Yes, we kill journalists and the world can go to hell
The war in Gaza has become the deadliest conflict in modern history for its most vulnerable victims: children and journalists. The deliberate targeting of journalists is a grave breach of international humanitarian law, in direct violation of the protections afforded to all civilians under the Geneva Conventions and their Additional…
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Haftar the gambler gambles again
Haftar is known for his courage, which some describe as bordering on recklessness at times. This trait has been with him since his days under his former boss, friend, and comrade, the late Muammar Gaddafi, whom he helped bring to power in the 1969 coup. Sources and Haftar’s own interviews,…
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The broadcast war: Israel’s pride in its crimes
Even in major democracies, of which Israel considers itself one, governments committing crimes typically try to conceal them from the public eye. They do so out of fear of the backlash, embarrassment, and—above all—accountability. Not so in Israel. In its ongoing war in Gaza, Israel is doing the exact opposite.…
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The world held hostage: The price of dissent in the face of genocide
The world, since October 2023, has found itself held hostage to Israel’s narrative surrounding its actions in Gaza and the West Bank. This has created a chilling effect on global discourse, where speaking out, or even showing basic human empathy, has become a career-ending offense. An unwritten but powerful code…
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To recognise or not to recognise is not the question
This coming September, France plans to formally recognise the State of Palestine—joining several European Union countries, most recently Spain, Norway, and Ireland, as well as the United Kingdom, which is following a similar path. In total, ten EU member states now recognise Palestine based on its 1967 borders. Announcing the…
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Amman’s edge: The Kingdom’s perilous balancing act
Jordan finds itself once again at a critical juncture, attempting a delicate balancing act between escalating domestic pressures and the volatile currents of regional realignments. As the Gaza war continues to reshape the Middle East, Amman’s traditional role as a stable Western ally and custodian of holy sites is being…
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Tunisia’s slow unravelling: From Arab Spring beacon to police state
Just over a decade ago, Tunisia was the brightest light of the Arab Spring—the rare case where mass protest led to a peaceful transition and hopes for real democracy. Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation in 2010 triggered a revolution that toppled Ben Ali’s regime and inspired uprisings across the region. Tunisia’s 2011…
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From free to fallen: The mysterious death of a Libyan activist
Abdelmonem Al-Marimi is dead—and Libya is left grasping for the truth. The 42-year-old activist, father, and outspoken anti-corruption voice died late on 5 July, while in the custody of the Attorney General’s office in Tripoli, shortly after prosecutors said he had been cleared for release. Surveillance footage—silent but detailed—released on…
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Wars at arm’s length: How the UAE became a shadowy power and betrayed Sheikh Zayed’s legacy
Until his death on 2 November 2004, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan guided the UAE with a policy of neutrality, cautious diplomacy, and humanitarian aid. Known as an Arab nationalist, he prioritised pan-Arab unity and support for Palestine. After the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, he declared, “Arab oil is not…
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Emirates of chaos: How the UAE fuels war and walks free
To General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de facto head of state and commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), foreign interference has been the main force prolonging his country’s brutal war. In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly last September, he pointedly stated, “Without this support… the war…
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False witness: How Europe profited from the Iran deal, then watched it burn under Trump
When the Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2015, it marked the culmination of years of painstaking negotiations involving the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the European Union, Russia, and China. They all hailed it as a landmark diplomatic achievement, one that served the interests of regional stability…
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Lost impunity: Israel’s waning global support over its genocide in Gaza
“Burning children alive can never be justified. The whole world is mobilising to stop the Israeli genocide. Please show your solidarity with Gaza” wrote British popstar Dua Lipa in May 2024. She is one of many global celebrities who have not only distanced themselves from Israel but condemned it without…