https://znetwork.org/author/gilbertachcar/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:13:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/author/gilbertachcar/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-recent-agreement-between-damascus-and-the-kurdish-administration/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-recent-agreement-between-damascus-and-the-kurdish-administration/#respond Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294465 How should we interpret the recent agreement between the Syrian Kurdish movement and the new Syrian government? Does it mark the end of a decade of Kurdish self-administration in northeastern Syria? Or is it merely a temporary arrangement, destined to join the long list of Middle Eastern agreements announced as final, only to collapse shortly [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-recent-agreement-between-damascus-and-the-kurdish-administration/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-kurds-and-the-syrian-regime/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-kurds-and-the-syrian-regime/#respond Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294135 Recent developments in northern Syria – particularly east of the Euphrates – carry grave implications for both the Kurdish condition and the broader Syrian situation. The Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria now finds itself in a critical predicament, having lost a substantial portion of the territory it hitherto controlled. These losses include predominantly Kurdish enclaves [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-kurds-and-the-syrian-regime/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-the-ashes-of-the-arab-spring/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-the-ashes-of-the-arab-spring/#respond Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:56:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293527 On January 14, 2011, Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to resign, after four weeks of revolt in the north African country. It was a first major scalp for the wave of upheaval known as the Arab Spring — a democratic upsurge across the region, which, however, also ended in many defeats. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-the-ashes-of-the-arab-spring/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/moroccos-gen-z-and-the-regional-volcano/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/moroccos-gen-z-and-the-regional-volcano/#respond Fri, 24 Oct 2025 15:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1290371 Only a few years pass before events emerge that reaffirm the thesis that what began in Tunisia on December 17, 2010, and culminated the following year in a massive wave of popular uprisings that spread to six countries in the region and included various forms of mass mobilization in other countries—the wave known as the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/moroccos-gen-z-and-the-regional-volcano/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-and-global-neofascism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-and-global-neofascism/#respond Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288715 Most of the recent electoral rounds in Western countries (lately in Norway and Germany) have yielded worrying results that confirm the rise of racist far-right forces. This buttresses the characterization of the era we live in as one comparable to the fascistic era between the two world wars of the past century, but in a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-and-global-neofascism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-genocide-in-gaza-and-those-who-deny-it/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-genocide-in-gaza-and-those-who-deny-it/#respond Sun, 07 Sep 2025 16:01:49 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288251 From the beginning of the Israeli response to Operation al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, it was clear that the Zionist state had launched a war deadlier and more destructive than all its previous wars. This was the result of the interaction between the most extremist government in the history of that state and the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-genocide-in-gaza-and-those-who-deny-it/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-exposes-the-bankruptcy-of-western-liberalism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-exposes-the-bankruptcy-of-western-liberalism/#respond Sat, 09 Aug 2025 16:49:09 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1287102 In his book Gaza Catastrophe: The Genocide in World-Historical Perspective, Gilbert Achcar analyzes the background, dynamics, and global consequences of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. In this interview with Jacobin, Achcar discusses the political radicalization of Israeli society, the strategic miscalculations of Hamas, and the open complicity of Western governments in the genocide [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gaza-exposes-the-bankruptcy-of-western-liberalism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-mirage-of-a-palestinian-state/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-mirage-of-a-palestinian-state/#respond Thu, 31 Jul 2025 15:53:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1286813 More countries recognizing a hypothetical entity called “State of Palestine” is positive in terms of its symbolic impact in recognizing the Palestinian people’s right to a state, a right denied by most components of the Zionist establishment, especially the far-right Zionist spectrum that currently governs Israel. However, the meanings and implications of this recognition greatly [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-mirage-of-a-palestinian-state/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/syria-and-the-dangers-of-playing-with-fire/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/syria-and-the-dangers-of-playing-with-fire/#respond Thu, 17 Jul 2025 15:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1286299 Whatever is the origin of the recent bloody clashes in the Suwayda Governorate—whether they were merely the result of the chaos prevailing in post-Assad Syria, or a manoeuvre by Israel in order to escalate its hypocritical intervention in the region, or a manoeuvre by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to extend its control over southern Syria—what [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/syria-and-the-dangers-of-playing-with-fire/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-netanyahu-and-the-reordering-of-the-middle-east/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-netanyahu-and-the-reordering-of-the-middle-east/#respond Tue, 15 Jul 2025 15:20:59 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1286207 Despite all the evidence to the contrary, too many commentators in the international media continue to portray Donald Trump as eager for a peaceful settlement to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. They even expect him to arm-twist Benjamin Netanyahu into accepting terms that the latter dislikes. The truth is that unofficial reports of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-netanyahu-and-the-reordering-of-the-middle-east/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/neofascism-and-climate-change/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/neofascism-and-climate-change/#respond Thu, 03 Jul 2025 15:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1285752 As a record-breaking heat wave engulfs much of Europe and North America, and as climate change and global warming—against which environmental scientists have long warned, calling for urgent action before it’s too late—are increasingly confirmed, at this alarming juncture for the future of the planet and its human and animal inhabitants, it is worth asking [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/neofascism-and-climate-change/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/buy-more-u-s-weapons-daddy-trump-pushes-military-industrial-complex-on-nato-countries/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/buy-more-u-s-weapons-daddy-trump-pushes-military-industrial-complex-on-nato-countries/#respond Sat, 28 Jun 2025 14:31:52 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1285566 President Donald Trump has returned to Washington after a NATO summit where leaders agreed to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, more than doubling the current target of 2%. The increase comes after years of pressure from Trump, who accuses other countries in the military alliance of not spending enough. “What he is interested in [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/buy-more-u-s-weapons-daddy-trump-pushes-military-industrial-complex-on-nato-countries/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/for-the-neofascists-the-law-of-the-jungle-is-the-only-one-that-makes-sense/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/for-the-neofascists-the-law-of-the-jungle-is-the-only-one-that-makes-sense/#respond Thu, 15 May 2025 15:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283771 Where did the “global neofascist axis” come from, and where is it going? What destabilizing effects might Russia’s war in Ukraine have? Ilya Budraitskis and Gilbert Achcar discuss the current conjuncture Ilya Budraitskis: With the beginning of Trump’s second term, the world is experiencing a tremendous geopolitical shift, and I would like to start discussing [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/for-the-neofascists-the-law-of-the-jungle-is-the-only-one-that-makes-sense/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/syria-fishing-in-troubled-waters/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/syria-fishing-in-troubled-waters/#respond Wed, 07 May 2025 18:40:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283453 Israel has accustomed us to fishing in troubled waters. The Zionist state has long been interested in sowing discord and fanning its flames in striving to redraw the map of the Middle East in its image, so that the logic of sectarian and ethnic fragmentation prevails over the logic of citizenship and shared loyalty to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/syria-fishing-in-troubled-waters/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-other-catastrophe-genocide-and-famine-in-sudan/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-other-catastrophe-genocide-and-famine-in-sudan/#respond Sat, 26 Apr 2025 14:54:59 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282999 Two years have passed since the war broke out in Sudan between the two sides of the military regime that the country inherited from the infamous Omar al-Bashir. While the situation in Sudan does not get even a tenth of the global media attention that the ongoing Zionist genocidal war in Gaza receives, the scale [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-other-catastrophe-genocide-and-famine-in-sudan/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/united-states-russia-talks-peace-between-neofascists-and-war-on-oppressed-peoples/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/united-states-russia-talks-peace-between-neofascists-and-war-on-oppressed-peoples/#respond Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1280027 That Washington and Moscow have chosen the Saudi kingdom as the venue for a meeting between their delegations to discuss the prospects of the war that has been ongoing in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded that country three years ago, is evidence of the profound changes occurring in international affairs before our eyes. The manner [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/united-states-russia-talks-peace-between-neofascists-and-war-on-oppressed-peoples/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-gatekeepers-interview-with-gilbert-achcar/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-gatekeepers-interview-with-gilbert-achcar/#respond Fri, 07 Feb 2025 16:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1279436 On October 7, 2023, Gaza-based armed group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing approximately 1,200. They demanded that Israel free Palestinian prisoners from its jails and withdraw its settlers from Palestinian land. This flare-up in a chain of decades-long conflict led to another chain of reactions, with Israel’s all-out war on Gaza killing [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-gatekeepers-interview-with-gilbert-achcar/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/two-myths-about-the-gaza-ceasefire/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/two-myths-about-the-gaza-ceasefire/#respond Thu, 23 Jan 2025 16:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1278787 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/two-myths-about-the-gaza-ceasefire/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/after-five-days-that-changed-its-face-where-is-lebanon-headed/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/after-five-days-that-changed-its-face-where-is-lebanon-headed/#respond Thu, 16 Jan 2025 16:53:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1278501 The events that have unfolded in Lebanon between the election of a new president of the Republic on Thursday 9 January and the appointment of a new prime minister on Monday 13, constitute a major upheaval in the country’s political situation. The fact is that these events are themselves primarily the result of a major [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/after-five-days-that-changed-its-face-where-is-lebanon-headed/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-palestinian-authority-and-the-completion-of-the-siege/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-palestinian-authority-and-the-completion-of-the-siege/#respond Thu, 09 Jan 2025 16:53:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1278171 It was only natural for the genocidal war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip, in the wake of the Hamas-led Operation Al-Aqsa Flood of 7 October 2023, to be accompanied by an onslaught on the West Bank. Indeed, the Zionist state saw in the Hamas-led operation a golden opportunity to pounce on the Palestinian [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-palestinian-authority-and-the-completion-of-the-siege/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-collapse-of-the-assad-regime-an-interview-on-syria-with-gilbert-achcar/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-collapse-of-the-assad-regime-an-interview-on-syria-with-gilbert-achcar/#respond Sat, 14 Dec 2024 16:04:58 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1277107 [Gilbert Achcar has been a major left commentator on international affairs for many years. He grew up in Lebanon and has lived and taught in Paris, Berlin, and London. He is just retiring as professor of Development Studies and International Relations at SOAS, University of London. His many books include The Clash of Barbarisms (2002, 2006); Perilous Power: The Middle [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-collapse-of-the-assad-regime-an-interview-on-syria-with-gilbert-achcar/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/where-is-syria-headed/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/where-is-syria-headed/#respond Thu, 12 Dec 2024 16:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1277000 While observing the amazing historical events that unfolded since last Friday, the first thing that came to mind was relief and joy at the images of detainees being freed from the hell of the carceral society that Syria had become under the Assad family’s regime. Our feelings were also overwhelmed by delight at the sight [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/where-is-syria-headed/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-is-happening-in-syria/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-is-happening-in-syria/#respond Thu, 05 Dec 2024 16:56:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276690 In just a few days, after having remained relatively static for a few years, Syria has turned anew into a theatre of war of movement, in what looks like a resumption of the last major displacement of the battlefronts that took place in 2016, when the Assad regime regained control of Aleppo with Iranian and [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-is-happening-in-syria/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/lebanons-ceasefire-is-no-divine-victory/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/lebanons-ceasefire-is-no-divine-victory/#respond Thu, 28 Nov 2024 16:53:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276059 Could the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon be a new “divine victory”? That was how the agreement that ended the Israeli onslaught on Lebanon in 2006 was characterized by Hezbollah. Then, the party displayed that phrase on huge billboards featuring a picture of its Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, in a clear play on words, as [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/lebanons-ceasefire-is-no-divine-victory/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hezbollahs-miscalculation/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hezbollahs-miscalculation/#respond Thu, 03 Oct 2024 15:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1273165 The party fell into the trap set for it by Israel, through its insistence on continuing to exchange fire with it “until a ceasefire in Gaza”, while it became clear that the weight of the battle was shifting from the wracked Strip to Lebanon. Last week, we wondered “whether the sudden escalation in what we [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hezbollahs-miscalculation/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gilbert-achcar-we-are-witnessing-the-first-genocide-in-history-to-be-televised-and-openly-supported-by-the-west/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gilbert-achcar-we-are-witnessing-the-first-genocide-in-history-to-be-televised-and-openly-supported-by-the-west/#respond Fri, 27 Sep 2024 15:46:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1272891 Israel’s escalating war, the genocide in Gaza and the opening up of new fronts of Zionist-led violence have once again focused the world’s attention on the Middle East region. To better understand the situation and the challenges that lie ahead, Revista Movimento spoke with Gilbert Achcar, a University of London professor and Lebanese activist affiliated [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/gilbert-achcar-we-are-witnessing-the-first-genocide-in-history-to-be-televised-and-openly-supported-by-the-west/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/lebanon-and-the-israeli-strategy-of-intimidation/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/lebanon-and-the-israeli-strategy-of-intimidation/#respond Wed, 18 Sep 2024 16:33:47 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1272530 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/lebanon-and-the-israeli-strategy-of-intimidation/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/rivals-in-the-service-of-empire-abu-dhabi-qatar-and-the-united-states/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/rivals-in-the-service-of-empire-abu-dhabi-qatar-and-the-united-states/#respond Sun, 08 Sep 2024 14:54:28 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1272055 Abu Dhabi and Qatar are the two brother enemies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Their consanguinity is evinced in several areas. The two emirates have comparable demographic features—3.8 and 2.8 million inhabitants, respectively, with nationals representing only a small minority (20% for Abu Dhabi, 12% for Qatar). They are each hugely rich. In 2023, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/rivals-in-the-service-of-empire-abu-dhabi-qatar-and-the-united-states/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-murder-of-children-and-the-return-of-genocide-to-banality/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-murder-of-children-and-the-return-of-genocide-to-banality/#respond Thu, 18 Jul 2024 15:54:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1269471 The Russian bombing that targeted a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, last week, killing dozens, naturally provoked a massive wave of denunciation in Western capitals, especially since it happened on the eve of the NATO summit in Washington. Most Western leaders condemned it in the harshest terms, led by US President Joe Biden, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/on-the-murder-of-children-and-the-return-of-genocide-to-banality/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-the-drumbeat-of-war-on-the-israel-lebanon-front-a-prelude-to-all-out-war/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-the-drumbeat-of-war-on-the-israel-lebanon-front-a-prelude-to-all-out-war/#respond Thu, 27 Jun 2024 15:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1268514 Recent weeks have witnessed a sharp escalation of the exchange of fire between the Lebanese resistance and Israeli forces in South Lebanon/North of the Zionist state. This escalation has been accompanied by an escalation of statements and threats between the two sides, with increasing Israeli threats to launch an all-out war on all areas where [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-the-drumbeat-of-war-on-the-israel-lebanon-front-a-prelude-to-all-out-war/feed/ 0