Current Affairs

analysis of world events

Subscribe to our newsletter.

  • Blinken did a hell of a job

    “Blinken did a hell of a job,” said Biden, when talking about his Secretary of States visit to China. “I had a candid, substantive meetings. We must make sure that competition does not move into conflict,” said Blinken. The US has moved on from the last meeting between Biden and Xi Jinping, which took part…

  • The Libyan problem

    Twelve years since the fall of the autocratic regime of Ghaddafi, Libya a country of over seven million is split between two factions: The Government of National Accord (GNA), based in Tripoli, dominates the political landscape of the west, and the Libyan National Army, dominates the east of Libya. Despite the calm over the last…

  • Part two Lebanon politics

    Politics in Lebanon is normally a dull affair where the same names and parties dominate arguments that morph into a singular contention of – what’s in it for me -. But since the uprising of October 2019, where hundreds and thousands of Lebanese took to the streets to demand political change, there has not been…

  • Is Lebanon close to having an economy again?

    Lebanon is in a mess, but is it close to getting out of this mess? Lebanon’s economy decelerated by 37 percent between 2018 and 2021, real gross domestic production (GDP) has fallen by 2.6 percent in 2022. But the most pressing question for the Lebanese is whether the economy is starting to build an element…

  • Part two Egypt’s political conversation

    Egypt is opening the door to the political possibility of an open discussion about where the country goes next. The opposition parties who have members in jail are negotiating with the Egyptian government of Abdel Fatah el-Sissi, and among their demands is the release of dissenters. So Egypt’s political opposition are preparing for a national…

  • Is Egypt a basket case?

    Is Egypt the next economic failure in the Middle East, that seems to be the worry among the investors in Egypt. The Egyptian pound has devalued by thirty percent, black market rates are higher and international rates are forty five percent. There have been IMF loans, which should amount to US$6 billion in the past…