OPINION

ISTANBUL – In 2007, I found myself in a car with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and then-Israeli President Shimon Peres en route to Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. During their historic visit to Ankara, which I had the privilege of hosting, both leaders addressed the Turkish parliament, advocating peace and a …

It has been more than two weeks now since another war in Gaza started. More than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed by relentless Israeli bombardment and 1,400 Israelis died in the attack by the armed Palestinian resistance group Hamas on southern Israel. Watching the media coverage of these events, I …

As we speak, people in Gaza are dying.  They are dying only from bombs and strikes. Soon, many more will die from the consequences of siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.   Basic services are crumbling.  Medicine is running out.  Food and water are running out. The streets of Gaza have started overflowing with sewage. Gaza …

LJUBLJANA – The barbarism that Hamas has unleashed on Israel should be condemned unconditionally, with no “ifs” or “buts.” The massacres, and abductions of civilians from villages, kibbutzim, and a music festival was a pogrom, confirming that Hamas’s true goal is to destroy the state of Israel and all Israelis. …

PRINCETON – Hamas’s brazen and vicious attacks within Israel have rightly drawn condemnation from around the world. If this is a war, as both sides agree it is, then Hamas’s deliberate targeting of civilians counts as a major war crime. But the brutality demonstrated by Hamas did not emerge in …

PRINCETON – It seems that 2023 will be another dismal year for democracy. There have been several coups in Africa. Tunisia – long touted as the Arab Spring’s one democratic success story – has seen the consolidation of an authoritarian (and xenophobic) regime. And Donald Trump appears on course to …

GENEVA – At the upcoming second United Nations High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, the world’s governments are expected to adopt a new set of commitments focused on accelerating implementation of UHC. No resolution will be complete without the explicit inclusion of comprehensive cancer services. Cancer causes an estimated ten …

COLOMBO – More than a year after the mass protest movement known as the Aragalaya ousted Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankans have once again taken to the streets. The impetus for the resurgence of public discontent is the recent bailout agreement …

CAMBRIDGE – The first debate between the Republican Party’s candidates for next year’s US presidential election revealed major schisms over foreign policy. While former US Vice President Mike Pence and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley defended America’s support for Ukraine in Russia’s war of aggression, Florida …

Bhutan has received international recognition for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public health front. While it was a difficult time for the nation, and social and economic repercussions are still being felt today, the health impacts were limited, with only 21 deaths to date despite over 60,000 …