Avoiding War in the Middle East Could Begin in Lebanon: A Scenario
Stratfor | 27th September 2019
Israel's new government, whatever form it ultimately takes, can move toward ending one war right now without firing a shot. At a stroke, Israel only has to offer to withdraw from a mere 5,000 acres of scrub that U.N. mediator Terje Roed-Larsen once called "a worthless piece of land." In this sequence of events, Israel's war with Hezbollah, which has brought it nothing but grief since its 1982 invasion of Lebanon, would be over. And there would be a bonus for Israel: Iran would lose the strategic threat of thousands of Hezbollah rockets pointed at Israeli cities. Deft diplomacy could then dismantle, one by one, other areas of confrontation between Iran and its adversaries — among them Iran's nuclear program, the Yemen war and U.S. sanctions against Iran — that threaten to engulf the United States in a regional war. Let me explain…
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The Question That Never Gets Asked About Kashmir
Stratfor
In 1998, the CIA subjected India to strict surveillance to ensure it was complying with its commitment not to test nuclear weapons. The agency used satellites, communications intercepts and agents to watch the nuclear facility at Pokhran in Rajasthan state. India…
The Syrian Civil War Grinds On, Largely Forgotten
Stratfor
While the United States and Iran risk all-out war with their game of chicken in the Persian Gulf, their proxy war is still playing out in Syria. Iranian ally and Syrian President Bashar al Assad won the war two years…
Why Good Reporting Isn’t Dead
Stratfor
Sometimes old journalists like myself feel for the Roman captives who called out to Emperor Claudius, "Ave Imperator, morituri te salutamus — Hail, Emperor, we who are about to die salute you." Sometimes, though, a great scoop comes along to…
Charles Glass is a broadcaster, journalist and writer, who began his journalistic career in 1973 at the ABC News Beirut bureau with Peter Jennings. He covered the October Arab-Israeli War on the Egyptian and Syrian fronts. He also covered civil war in Lebanon, where artillery fire wounded him in 1976. He was ABC News Chief Middle East correspondent from 1983 to 1993. Since 1993, he has been a freelance writer in Paris, Tuscany, Venice and London, regularly covering the Middle East, the Balkans, southeast Asia and the Mediterranean region. He has also published books, short stories, essays and articles in the United States and Europe.