Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the end of Kosovo war, the country is facing a dramatic large-scale brain drain. Every day, young professionals wait in long lines in front of EU embassies to apply for visas to legally leave Kosovo in the search for job opportunities and…

The longest war in American history may come to an end following an agreement in principle between the US and the Taliban which was recently concluded in Doha. It is significant in that it is the first time the US and the Taliban negotiated face-to-face, the negotiations were made public, and the principle accord that…

The election of a record number of women to Congress is significant in that Congresswomen are more likely to focus on socio-economic and gender-based issues that have largely been either ignored or resisted by a predominantly male Congress. The fact that nearly 25% of the House and Senate are now women means their voices can…

To dramatically slow the flow of illegal immigration and even end it does not rest on building walls or sending troops to the border, or by heartlessly snatching children from their mothers’ arms, or by incarceration, deportation, or prosecution. A big part of the answer lies in economic development, mainly sustainable development projects, in the…

The retaking of the House by the Democrats will soon allow them to exercise checks and balances and stop the Republicans from going down a slippery slope. Otherwise, the party would have slid into complete self-implosion as they blindly but willingly followed Trump’s chaotic political agenda. During the past two years, Trump and his party…

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was shocked yet once again to read about Wednesday’s mass killing of 12 people during “college night” at a country music bar in southern California, sending hundreds fleeing in terror. I have young children who occasionally visit these types of bars, and I can only imagine how devastating…

With Syria’s civil war nearing an end with the takeover of the city of Idlib by Assad’s forces and his allies, I do not expect that Syria will soon enter a period of calm and amicably divide the spoils of the war. Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the US have conflicting strategic interests in Syria, which…

This article is co-written by Alon Ben-Meir and Arbana Xharra. Arbana Xharra authored a series of investigative reports on religious extremists and Turkey’s Islamic agenda operating in the Balkans. She has won numerous awards for her reporting, and was a 2015 recipient of the International Women of Courage Award from the US State Department. Less…

Artwork by Michael Anderson and Sam Ben-Meir The recent violation of Israel’s air space by an Iranian drone and Israel’s retaliation against Syrian and Iranian targets prompted many observers to suggest that the growing regional tension resulting from such incidents may precipitate a war between Israel and Iran/Hezbollah, and perhaps inadvertently with Syria as well….