An American Expat in Egypt, Jordan, So Different From A Decade Ago

What's it like to be an American expat in the Middle East now, with regional tensions high and many locals blaming the U.S. for sticking with Israel? Samantha Childress on Substack shares her experiences in Egypt and Jordan. Goodbye to All That: On Loving and Leaving Cairo. Vignettes from Life in Amman. Despite a loud …

Israel-Hamas War At 8 Months: Disastrous

On May 7, 2024 the war between Israel and Hamas begins its eighth month. Some 1,200 Israelis were murdered by 1,000 Hamas operatives on October 7, 2023. In the seven months since then, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. Among them, according to the Israeli Defense Force, were 11,000 Hamas soldiers, along …

The Terrible Tragedy of Lebanon, Where Violence and Dysfunction Never End

When I lived in the Middle East, Lebanon seemed like a jewel and Beirut sounded like a beautiful city worth visiting. In 2011, communications consultant Michael Karam wrote that under new leadership, Lebanon could be another Singapore. "“It has the capacity to be a wonderful boutique jewel, not unlike Singapore. It can be built on …

Rapid Reconstruction of Gaza in the Works

Arab Gulf states -- Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman -- plus Egypt, Jordan, the U.S., and the European Union are creating a “massive postwar reconstruction plan…for the besieged Gaza Strip,” The Christian Science Monitor reports. The plan would “rebuild the coastal strip, unite and overhaul Palestinian governance, and create a Palestinian security force in …

How WWI Created the Middle East Conflicts

The Great War: "The modern Middle East is a region troubled by war, terrorism, weak and failed states, and civil unrest. But how did it get this way? The map of today’s Middle East was mostly drawn after the First World War, and the war that planted many of the seeds of conflict that still …

More Insight on the Israel-Palestinian Conflict

I've added several links to my mini-course on the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Journalist Andrew Sullivan offered a well-reasoned argument for why Israel's actions so far do not constitute genocide. Israel has no intention of eliminating the Palestinian people (they are represented in the Israeli parliament), whereas the stated goal of Hamas is to eliminate the Jewish …

War on the West?

'Progressive' comedian Bill Maher defends Western values against perceived assault, especially in the Israel-Palestine conflict. His commentary on “The War on the West” went viral, with as of this writing more 1.2 million views on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnl243DjsUE On Substack, I do a deeper dive into the concept that there's a war on Western values, reporting on …

Barbara Tuckman’s Law: Perpetual Readiness for Disasters

To visit Israel or the greater Middle East right now, during the Israel-Palestine War might seem terrifying. But historian Barbara Tuckman, author of "The Guns of August," "The March of Folly," and other historical classics, in "A Distant Mirror" fleshed out what she called Tuckman's Law: "Disaster is rarely as pervasive as it seems from …

Arabs Before Islam: Religion, Society, Culture

Kings and Generals: Before the rise of Islam in 610 A.D., Arabia was mostly composed of nomadic tribes called Bedouins, some of whom maintain that lifestyle today. They had "constantly shifting alliances, never-ending warfare, and rare occurrences of organized and centralized statehood. These tribes placed heavy emphasis on kin-related groups..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07OsSSt0ytc&t=159s Religions were polytheism, paganism, …

Thin Line Between Good and Evil

"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained." …