Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr Sania Faisal El-Husseini
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From nuclear threshold to nuclear deterrence: Is Iran crossing the line?
The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran over recent months has reshaped several dimensions of the conflict. Alongside the economic pressure Iran exerted by disrupting activity in the Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear file remains equally consequential. Weeks ago, Iranian media outlets close to the Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with statements attributed…
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Israel: From neutralizing the frontline states to neutralizing the Axis of Resistance
Israel’s occupation of Arab states does not necessarily have to take a physical form, as happened in the past with the rest of Palestine, the Syrian Golan, Egypt’s Sinai, and Lebanon’s Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba Hills. It may also take other forms, as later envisioned in Israeli strategy. Following…
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Beyond unipolarity and the end of strategic certainty: Lessons imposed by the war on Iran
The war on Iran stands as a revealing reflection of a profound structural shift in an international order that has been taking shape for years. The Iran conflict cannot be viewed merely as a passing regional crisis or a confrontation between rival powers confined to a specific geography. It represents…
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Palestinians in Israel and the coming Knesset elections
The continued wars of Benjamin Netanyahu have clearly provided him with additional political breathing space and survival. They may also pave the way for postponing the elections scheduled for next October, an outcome that would align closely with his political interests, particularly as it becomes increasingly apparent that securing victory…
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The US–Iran impasse: Who stands to lose more?
By the end of this month, US–Iran negotiations had reached a near stalemate, following rounds of talks in Islamabad and Muscat that failed to produce any meaningful breakthrough. At the same time, the conflict has been steadily morphing into something closer to a “cold war,” driven less by direct confrontation…
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A Strategic Risk and Legal Ambiguity: A Managed Confrontation in Hormuz
U.S. President Donald Trump was forced to extend the ceasefire, originally set to expire on April 22, after Washington and Tehran failed to agree on a second round of talks. The first round in Islamabad had already fallen short of narrowing the gap between the two sides. The extension came…
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Is the Strait of Hormuz the key to resolving the crisis?
Iran’s response to the American closure of the Strait of Hormuz, among other actions, was not arbitrary. Rather, it was a calculated reaction directed at US interests. A brief examination of the Strait of Hormuz’s importance to the United States, in particular, and its policy of containing the escalation with…
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Does diplomacy through the use of military force always succeed?
In a surprising development, US President Donald Trump announced in the early hours of Wednesday morning a two-week ceasefire with Iran, contingent upon the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to navigation. Trump’s announcement came shortly before the expiration of the deadline he had set for striking Iranian infrastructure and…
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Notes on the Knesset’s approval of the death penalty for Palestinians
The Israeli parliament (the Knesset) has approved amendments to the penal code that have triggered a broad wave of criticism, as they directly target Palestinians by introducing the death penalty in a legal framework designed to facilitate both its imposition and execution. The law applies to Palestinians across all legal…
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The U.S.–Israeli War on Iran: Gains and Losses
On February 28, 2026, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an operation U.S. President Donald Trump said was carried out in direct coordination with Israel. The killing marks a historic rupture, reshaping the very contours of the conflict between Iran, and the U.S.-Israeli axis. For years, Washington…
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Is Israel becoming a strategic liability for the US?
Indicators are mounting that the world is heading toward an era of multipolarity, signaling the twilight of the age of singular American hegemony and a redistribution of global power among multiple actors. The Chinese economy has expanded, approaching the size of the European Union’s economy and two-thirds that of the…
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The War on Iran: America at the Center of the Storm
As the region continues to endure the escalating Israeli-American war against Iran, international calls to halt the confrontation are growing louder. Air traffic has been suspended across several countries, economic pressures are mounting, and anxiety is spreading through a region that sits at the heart of the global energy system.…
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The ‘brinkmanship’ strategy with Iran: A calculated approach
Over the past month, events in the region have escalated and expanded significantly, as Israel and the United States attempt to establish new control and balances after two and a half years of continuous wars and unrest. After calming the conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and Yemen, attention has turned to…
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Notes on the draft constitution of the State of Palestine
Nearly seven months after President Mahmoud Abbas formed the constitutional drafting committee, the president moved a few days ago to release the draft “Interim Constitution of the State of Palestine” to the public and to relevant institutions for review and comment over a 60-day period. The designated committee is expected…
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Beyond Oslo: Engineering a new reality in Palestine
It has become clear that Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government are seeking to leverage their current alignment with the administration of US President Donald Trump, a government that strongly backs Israeli policies, to cement a reality in Palestine that will be difficult to reverse in the future. Under Israeli…
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What is Israel planning for Palestinians in the West Bank?
Israeli policies and measures directed at Palestinians in the West Bank have steadily intensified since the current right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu came to power at the end of 2022. These policies became more explicit in the aftermath of the 7th October attacks the following year, and increasingly actionable…
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What is Israel planning for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank?
Official and unofficial Israeli actions, alongside a steady stream of statements, unprecedented in their frequency since the war in Gaza began nearly two and a half years ago, point to a coherent Israeli strategy toward Palestinians, in both the West Bank and Gaza, and toward the Palestinian cause as a…
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The Greenland crisis and the limits of Western independence
A new transatlantic crisis is gathering momentum, this time centered on Denmark’s island of Greenland. The problem lies less in the technical details of the dispute than in what it reveals: a profound European disorientation in confronting a new era in which the United States no longer appears primarily as…
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On the looming American–Israeli strike against Iran
The region is going through a period of visible tension, marked by growing anxiety over the possibility of sliding into yet another war. This comes at a time when it has yet to regain its balance after more than two years of devastating, multi-front conflicts. In recent days, official Israeli…
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Economic hegemony as a doctrine: A reading of current US foreign policy
After months of US military pressure on the Maduro regime, American forces carried out a raid on Caracas in the early hours of 3 January, abducting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and airlifting them out of the country. They are now being held in New York City, where…
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Arab States grow increasingly suspicious of Israeli policies
Perhaps the most consequential outcome of the events of 7 October 2023, has been the unmasking of Israeli plans, the collapse of a façade it maintained in the Middle East region for decades. Israel is no longer seen merely as an occupying power in Palestine, an occupation that distorts history,…
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How Artificial Intelligence threatens human freedom and consolidates control in the hands of its controllers
US Senator Bernie Sanders, the well-known Democratic lawmaker, recently raised the alarm over the potential dangers that artificial intelligence (AI) poses to the United States. He did so in a speech broadcast in recent days, as well as in an opinion article published earlier this month in the widely read…
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Trump’s agenda: Steering US foreign policy toward a dangerous downturn
President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan appeared this year amid the ongoing war on the Strip, gaining additional momentum following the adoption of UNDC Resolution 2803. While the United States seeks to frame the initiative as a multilateral undertaking, it remains, in essence, an American designed framework centered on a US…
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No legitimacy for Trump in Gaza nor for the “Peace Council”
On last November 17, the UNSC approved a resolution submitted by the United States on the day after in Gaza. The resolution, numbered 2803, establishes a “Peace Council” as a transitional adminstration body with an international legal personality tasked with setting the framework and coordinating funding for Gaza’s reconstruction, until…