//podcastplus.net/feed/mid-east-matters-online~0677ff4a Insights on the Mideast Thu, 23 Jul 2026 02:29:39 +0000 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/New-Leadership-in-Arabia.mp3 The departure of Sultan Qaboos of Oman in the early days of 2020, marks the end of an era in the Arab world. Many founders of republics, kingdoms and sheikdoms have departed before him, to the great loss of their nations. To name but a few one would remember Presidents Qudsi, Khoury and Chehab in Syria and Lebanon, as well as, King Faisal in Saudi Arabia and the late Sheik Zayed in the UAE.But nations do not die with the passing away of their leaders, they either forge ahead with their national projects or slip back into the chaos of internecine struggles. On the one hand, the Levant has been disappointingly rich with such failures. Except for Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq are worse off under their current leaders than at the turn of the previous century. On the other hand, the Gulf has been surprisingly rich with better alternatives. Young, educated, forward looking leaders have taken the reins of power and instead of scanning the past for answers they are looking to the future for better prospects. The mo... Sun, 12 Jan 2020 18:50:04 +0000 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/New-Leadership-in-Arabia.mp3 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/New-Leadership-in-Arabia.mp3 The departure of Sultan Qaboos of Oman in the early days of 2020, marks the end of an era in the Arab world. Many founders of republics, kingdoms and sheikdoms have departed before him, to the great loss of their nations. To name but a few one would remember Presidents Qudsi, Khoury and Chehab in Syria and Lebanon, as well as, King Faisal in Saudi Arabia and the late Sheik Zayed in the UAE.But nations do not die with the passing away of their leaders, they either forge ahead with their national projects or slip back into the chaos of internecine struggles. On the one hand, the Levant has been disappointingly rich with such failures. Except for Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq are worse off under their current leaders than at the turn of the previous century. On the other hand, the Gulf has been surprisingly rich with better alternatives. Young, educated, forward looking leaders have taken the reins of power and instead of scanning the past for answers they are looking to the future for better prospects. The mo... Sun, 12 Jan 2020 18:50:04 +0000 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/New-Leadership-in-Arabia.mp3 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019-Gone-By-.mp3 2019 will be remembered for key political events including, the start of the partisan proceedings in the US Congress to impeach Donald J. Trump, the resounding election victory of the Tories in the UK, and the unprecedented democratic protests in HK. Closer to the Middle East, the milestones of 2019 will be split between the financial landmark of the quasi-successful Aramco IPO, the civilian protests in the streets of Iraq and Lebanon, and the saga of repeat-elections in Israel, which are starting to have a twist of the ‘Groundhog Day’ motion picture.On that latter chapter of pain and toil in the Levant, the story has just begun and the last weeks of the current year that were punctuated by the dual resignations of the respective PMs in Iraq and Lebanon, the joint naval exercises of Iran-China-Russia in the Gulf of Oman, and the most recent US strikes on Iran’s proxy militias in Iraq and Syria, do not bode well for the coming year.In a globalized world, it is difficult to dissociate such events. The US ... Tue, 31 Dec 2019 19:18:46 +0000 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019-Gone-By-.mp3 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019-Gone-By-.mp3 2019 will be remembered for key political events including, the start of the partisan proceedings in the US Congress to impeach Donald J. Trump, the resounding election victory of the Tories in the UK, and the unprecedented democratic protests in HK. Closer to the Middle East, the milestones of 2019 will be split between the financial landmark of the quasi-successful Aramco IPO, the civilian protests in the streets of Iraq and Lebanon, and the saga of repeat-elections in Israel, which are starting to have a twist of the ‘Groundhog Day’ motion picture.On that latter chapter of pain and toil in the Levant, the story has just begun and the last weeks of the current year that were punctuated by the dual resignations of the respective PMs in Iraq and Lebanon, the joint naval exercises of Iran-China-Russia in the Gulf of Oman, and the most recent US strikes on Iran’s proxy militias in Iraq and Syria, do not bode well for the coming year.In a globalized world, it is difficult to dissociate such events. The US ... Tue, 31 Dec 2019 19:18:46 +0000 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019-Gone-By-.mp3 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Combating-Corruption-without-its-Protector-is-Failed-Strategy.mp3 The revolts in the many towns and cities of Lebanon are unprecedented. They are true expressions of a young (and not so young) multi-confessional generation that is fed up with the incompetence and decay of State-institutions and, with the unhinged kleptocracy of the ruling class. People have had enough with false excuses hurled at them over decades to justify the lack of public services, the absence of accountability in public office, and the severe social woes that plague the country. Sometimes we were told that it was all caused by the convenient enemy namely, Israel, other times by the inconvenient neighbor that is Syria, more recently by ISIS, and on a more regular occasion it is sectarianism that is singled-out as the root cause of all ills. Whilst such justifications have a modest ring of truth, they are shallow and insufficient to explain the total subjugation of national interests to private profiteering.The political class in Lebanon (although neither political nor having any class) has ran out of e... Sat, 23 Nov 2019 15:17:32 +0000 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Combating-Corruption-without-its-Protector-is-Failed-Strategy.mp3 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Combating-Corruption-without-its-Protector-is-Failed-Strategy.mp3 The revolts in the many towns and cities of Lebanon are unprecedented. They are true expressions of a young (and not so young) multi-confessional generation that is fed up with the incompetence and decay of State-institutions and, with the unhinged kleptocracy of the ruling class. People have had enough with false excuses hurled at them over decades to justify the lack of public services, the absence of accountability in public office, and the severe social woes that plague the country. Sometimes we were told that it was all caused by the convenient enemy namely, Israel, other times by the inconvenient neighbor that is Syria, more recently by ISIS, and on a more regular occasion it is sectarianism that is singled-out as the root cause of all ills. Whilst such justifications have a modest ring of truth, they are shallow and insufficient to explain the total subjugation of national interests to private profiteering.The political class in Lebanon (although neither political nor having any class) has ran out of e... Sat, 23 Nov 2019 15:17:32 +0000 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Combating-Corruption-without-its-Protector-is-Failed-Strategy.mp3 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Lebanons-Crisis-Resolution.mp3 The Bloomberg article of November 7, 2019, on the need for the Rich to get a Haircut (in Lebanon), is pertinent in both its take and approach. But one needs to imagine a more probable (not unique) scenario for a drastic plan to overcome the daunting crisis facing the country.At the outset, one must state that any economic solution without the eradication of the phenomenon of a State (Hezbollah-led Lebanon) within a State (official Lebanon) is doomed to fail. No regional or foreign investor, no regional or international institutions, bank, fund, or monetary authority would lend any assistance to a State when its sovereignty is held hostage by a paramilitary organization blacklisted by the regional (except for Iran, Syria and Iraq) and the international (community).Now, a short historical background seems necessary. Since the early 1990s at the start of the post-war reconstruction era, a diabolical alliance was forged. The deal included a group of Warlords (names known) and carpetbaggers (also well known). The ... Fri, 08 Nov 2019 23:38:57 +0000 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Lebanons-Crisis-Resolution.mp3 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Lebanons-Crisis-Resolution.mp3 The Bloomberg article of November 7, 2019, on the need for the Rich to get a Haircut (in Lebanon), is pertinent in both its take and approach. But one needs to imagine a more probable (not unique) scenario for a drastic plan to overcome the daunting crisis facing the country.At the outset, one must state that any economic solution without the eradication of the phenomenon of a State (Hezbollah-led Lebanon) within a State (official Lebanon) is doomed to fail. No regional or foreign investor, no regional or international institutions, bank, fund, or monetary authority would lend any assistance to a State when its sovereignty is held hostage by a paramilitary organization blacklisted by the regional (except for Iran, Syria and Iraq) and the international (community).Now, a short historical background seems necessary. Since the early 1990s at the start of the post-war reconstruction era, a diabolical alliance was forged. The deal included a group of Warlords (names known) and carpetbaggers (also well known). The ... Fri, 08 Nov 2019 23:38:57 +0000 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Lebanons-Crisis-Resolution.mp3 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Hela-Ho-vs.-Hezbollah.mp3 In his last public speech, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, a misnomer to start with ‘cause it gives the feel of a U.N. like organization, was nervous. His face did not reveal the full extent of his anxiety nor did his voice divulge his true anger. To blur the issues, his office was arranged such as only the Lebanese flag stood behind him. He raised his finger twice or thrice and made fun of it as to decrease the tension with his viewers. His, was an address to almost 2 million Lebanese who descended onto the streets from all major cities and towns of Lebanon demanding the end to a corrupt, inept, and untrustworthy political class. Starting with a government made up of sectarian appointees and cronies, who as one of their members stated, had the audacity to ask people to pay taxes even if such taxes were squandered!However, the government-sanctioned corruption and the ‘Ebola of bribes’ which has ravaged all echelons of Lebanon’s body politic is but one part of the Iceberg against which the Lebanese... Mon, 28 Oct 2019 15:21:33 +0000 http://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Hela-Ho-vs.-Hezbollah.mp3 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Hela-Ho-vs.-Hezbollah.mp3 In his last public speech, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, a misnomer to start with ‘cause it gives the feel of a U.N. like organization, was nervous. His face did not reveal the full extent of his anxiety nor did his voice divulge his true anger. To blur the issues, his office was arranged such as only the Lebanese flag stood behind him. He raised his finger twice or thrice and made fun of it as to decrease the tension with his viewers. His, was an address to almost 2 million Lebanese who descended onto the streets from all major cities and towns of Lebanon demanding the end to a corrupt, inept, and untrustworthy political class. Starting with a government made up of sectarian appointees and cronies, who as one of their members stated, had the audacity to ask people to pay taxes even if such taxes were squandered!However, the government-sanctioned corruption and the ‘Ebola of bribes’ which has ravaged all echelons of Lebanon’s body politic is but one part of the Iceberg against which the Lebanese... Mon, 28 Oct 2019 15:21:33 +0000 https://mideastmattersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Hela-Ho-vs.-Hezbollah.mp3