"What happens when, after another dozen major attacks, the chain of their barbarism outpaces the chain of our human solidarity? When is the permissible moment to start asking if we can muster as much wisdom and realism to fight terror as we do to harness emotions of solidarity? The recent increasing pace and widening geographic scope of terror suggest we are dealing with a qualitatively new kinds of terrorists — but the policy responses of governments and the emotional responses of entire societies suggest we have no idea how to respond to quell this monster."

"Egyptian President Abdelfattah Sisi has suggested a regional diplomatic gathering to push ahead towards a permanent Arab-Israeli peace. But the proposed regional conference has not been formulated with widespread consultations among the key players or coordinated with other international initiatives on the table, and the positions of the principal Israeli and Palestinian parties remain too far apart to stir any hopes of success..."

"The challenge of identifying and containing IS members in Europe or elsewhere who may be planning terror attacks is much more difficult today than was the (ongoing) counter-terrorism fight against Al-Qaeda during the past quarter century, for two main reasons. Deteriorating economic and political conditions in dozens of countries expands the pool of recruits, and, thousands of European recruits who have been thoroughly trained, indoctrinated, and given battlefield experience in the “Islamic State” return home with greater capabilities than earlier waves of terrorists..."

"Two years or so since “Islamic State” (IS, or Da’esh) declared itself and its caliphate in parts of northern Syria and Iraq, we are now finally approaching the moment when decisive, coordinated, pervasive, and sustained military force will be used against it to destroy its territorial enclaves in several countries. This will bring to the fore a series of critical non-military questions that shape the heart of the problem we face across much of the Arab world..."

On this 68th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel and the exile and refugeehood of half the Palestinian Arab population of 1948, Israelis, Zionists, and their friends should be concerned. Because something significant is taking place in the mindset and political struggle attitudes of many Palestinians around the world that will increase the pressure on Israel to come to an honorable peace that allows both people to live side by side in security and sovereignty.

We are into the season when you will be flooded with articles and analyses on the 100-year anniversary of the Sykes-Picot agreement that was signed on May 18, 1916. That agreement between Great Britain and France, with Russian acquiescence, defined how they would divide the spoils of the crumbling Ottoman Empire in the East Mediterranean region.

"A new front seems to be forming among the many other battles taking place in Syria, this time pitting the local population’s legitimate acceptance of Al-Qaeda governance against either a total rejection of this, or a modified form of shared governance with other local actors. The success or failure of this process merits close monitoring, because it could have implications elsewhere across the Arab world..."

"It is not a good sign when a government says it promotes democracy yet sends its police to intimidate and arrest journalists and prevent peaceful public demonstrations. In this vein, the Egyptian government’s storming of the Egyptian Press Syndicate's offices on Sunday is only the latest and most dramatic move by Arab governments to use a variety of means at their disposal to control what citizens have access to in their media..."

During a very fast one-day visit to Washington, D.C. on Monday this week, I participated in a day of lectures and panel discussions organized by a private company on some of the world’s most challenging political and economic issues, including the “Arab youth” panel I joined. On that same day, four striking developments in four different Arab countries reminded us why young Arabs are so worried and in some instances turn to extreme measures, like illegal or legal emigration, joining militant movements, turning to corrupt practices for their survival, or engaging in sectarian civil wars.

"A flurry of press reports and analyses about the future of Syria, like the regular Elvis Presley sightings I always enjoy, are dramatic, captivating, slightly wondrous, and fill a basic psychological need. Most of what we hear about the future demographic configuration, borders, or ruling power structure of Syria is titillating speculation. The actual outcomes in Syria will reflect domestic, regional, and international factors that are all unknown today..."