Coming at a period of great turmoil and high expectations, the recent speech by President Bashar Al-Assad left many disappointed, says Bassel Oudat in Damascus

Protests in Iraq's Kurdish region have rattled a regime that has long been trumpeted as a 'beacon of democracy' in the country, writes Salah Hemeid

Some Israeli commentators are openly recognising that the current regime in Damascus is the best one they can hope for, writes Saleh Al-Naami

For a change, a relatively quiet Lebanon is watching chaos unfold in Syria. But reactions from both sides have been unusually muted, says Lucy Fielder

The West is using underhand tactics to ram through a Libyan putsch that the country cannot afford, warns Gamal Nkrumah

As the conflict in Libya headed towards stalemate this week, attempts have been continuing to find a negotiated settlement to the crisis, writes David Tresilian in Paris

Humanitarian intervention flounders on the lack of support from the Libyan people, says James Petras

The Yemeni sense of honour or maybe just plain old stubbornness and love of power have pushed the country to the verge of bedlam, observes Nasser Arrabyee

While little progress in Palestinian reconciliation appears on the horizon, events in Egypt may have levelled the playing field for Hamas, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank

Goldstone's belated and shocking vindication of Israel will encourage Israel to commit more crimes against Palestinian civilians, writes Khaled Amayreh