Sharmine Narwani

Although the era of US global hegemony is coming to a close, the Middle East – more than most regions – is still reeling from the nasty last jabs of that Empire in decline.  It is little wonder, then, that the US presidential election season is scrutinized carefully in all… »

On March 23, 2011, at the very start of what we now call the ‘Syrian conflict,’ two young men – Sa’er Yahya Merhej and Habeel Anis Dayoub – were gunned down in the southern Syrian city of Daraa.  Merhej and Dayoub were neither civilians, nor were they in opposition to… »

Hi folks, My interview with conservative Iranian publication Javan was published today.- it touches on the shifts in regional alliances as ground developments change the face of the Mideast. Iran and Russia – who would have thought? Tension on the US-Saudi front? Yes, and get used to it:… »

In January, the Syrian government will – ostensibly – sit across the negotiating table from ‘the Syrian opposition’ to decide on the structure and make-up of a transitional government that promises to end the 5-year Syrian conflict. The ‘Syrian opposition,’ we are told by US Secretary of State John Kerry,… »

The war drums are getting louder in the aftermath of ISIS attacks in Paris, as Western countries gear up to launch further airstrikes in Syria. But obscured in the fine print of countless resolutions and media headlines is this: the West has no legal basis for military intervention. Their strikes… »

This week finds me in Vienna covering the P5+1 and Iranian nuclear negotiations, and I can honestly say that it’s hard to call the outcome of the talks right now. Don’t depend on the global media to help much either. In lieu of hard news to report, hundreds of fidgety… »

Sharmine Narwani says: “If you want to understand what’s going on in the Middle East today, go back to see what the US Military was doing 4 years ago, as the ‘Arab Spring’ kicked off, and US-backed dictators were falling like flies. Shia-vs-Sunni and Iran-vs-Arabs was the script being developed… »

Hi folks, With ISIS’ takeover of Ramadi and Palmyra, many sat up and asked “where were the American bombers while this was happening?” Iraqis have now taken note that US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and others have refused to take any blame for these losses, and are re-calculating their dependence… »

This needs to be spelled out: The biggest threat to Middle East stability today is a Sunni one – and it comes not from its largely downtrodden population, but from the epicenter of current Sunni political and religious leadership. “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper… »

There is media confusion about what is going on in Yemen and the broader Middle East. Pundits are pointing out that the US is looking schizophrenic with policies that back opposite sides of the fight against al-Qaeda-style extremism in Iraq and in Yemen. But it isn’t that hard to understand… »