Washington Watch Articles From 2025
Remembering the War That Didn’t End All Wars
This past week, as guest of a veterans’ group, I traveled to Iowa to deliver remarks on Armistice Day, the day commemorating the end of World War I. Instead of offering comments typical of the day, focusing on those young soldiers who served, fought, and died, my remarks dealt with the impact of that war—in particular on the people of the Arab World, and on the Arab American community. I titled my speech: “How ‘the war to end all wars’ planted the seeds for a century of conflict.”
The Need For a Vision to Inspire Arabs of the Mashreq
Any way you look at it, the northern rim of the Arab World is a mess. US politicians, echoing Israel’s position, speak glibly (and dishonestly) of a transformed or new regional order. In reality, the situation has worsened. Israel has accelerated its genocidal war on Gaza, land-grabbing ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and occupations and deadly bombings of Lebanon and Syria.
Foreign Manipulation of the Arab East Must End
There’s no two ways about it, the Arab East is a mess. It is weak, divided, directionless, locked in multiple conflicts, and not in control of its own destiny. This isn’t new. It’s been this way for a century, with non-Arab powers preying off the region in pursuit of their own aspirations.