AboutArticles by Michael Jansen

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (right) meets his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon. Associated Press

New Lebanese president embarks on reformist path

12 Jan 2025

By electing Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun to be the country’s 14th president parliament committed Beirut to forming a government which will enact reforms required to access $21 billion in...

International gains

09 Jan 2025

Former US President Jimmy Carter’s obituaries have largely ignored his progressive domestic record in office and lauded him as the best-ex-president the US ever had thanks to his post-White House...

Gaza’s healthcare services are in tatters

05 Jan 2025

Israel's systematic effort to eradicate Gaza's hospitals is part and parcel of its overall campaign to make it impossible for Palestinians to live in the narrow coastal strip. The initial...

Deadly work

03 Jan 2025

Journalists across the world risk their lives daily to report in conflict zones and all too often become the story. This is especially true on Gaza where from Oct.7, 2023,...

HTS must unite partners to curb infighting

29 Dec 2024

Syria is not Idlib. Syria’s new rulers, dominated by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have yet to learn that Syria is far more commanding, complex and complicated than Idlib, one of...

Syrians uncertain about their future after takeover

22 Dec 2024

Globally dominant Western media have focused on the liberation of Syria’s prisoners and mass graves outside Damascus, but little is being reported about how Syrians are coping with uncertainty. Hay’at...

Fading hopes

19 Dec 2024

The embattled West Bank hill town of Bethlehem faces a second cold Christmas as Palestinian Christians leave, and tourists stay away from the birthplace of Jesus and Christianity. “During these difficult...

Erdogan gains political ground in Syria

15 Dec 2024

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become the key external actor in Syria following the sudden fall of Syria president Bashar al-Assad and the Baath party. He secured supremacy by...

Exerting pressure

12 Dec 2024

Last Week’s Amnesty International report accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza is unprecedented. This is the first time a major global human rights organisation issued such a finding, and the...

Calls for calm after takeover of Damascus

08 Dec 2024

While Ha’yat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) and disparate armed allies have called for calm and a smooth transition from the 54-year-old Assad dynasty, it remains to be seen if HTS...

Michael Jansen

The author, a well-respected observer of Middle East affairs, has three books on the Arab-Israeli conflict.