Author: M Barbu

In the past two decades, the external debt of developing countries has quadrupled to $11.4 trillion (2023). It is important to understand that this money owed to foreign creditors is equivalent to 99% of the export earnings of the developing countries. This means that almost every dollar earned by the export of goods and services is a dollar owed to a foreign bank or bond holder. Countries of the Global South, therefore, are merely selling their goods and services to pay off debts incurred for development projects, collapsed commodity prices, public deficits, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the inflation due to the Ukraine war. Half the world’s population (3.3 billion) lives in countries that allocate more of their budget to pay off the interest on debt than to pay for either education or health services. On the African continent, of the fifty-four countries, thirty-four spend more on debt servicing than on public healthcare. Debt looms over the Global South like a vulture, ready to pick at the carcass of our societies.

On March 21, 2025, Bayda’ Al-Muwahideen, a pro-Islamic State (ISIS) channel on Telegram, posted an article titled, “The Jewish Hostages: Are They a Card in Hamas’ Hand or a Card in the Jews’ Hand?” In it, the channel asserts that the “genocide” and destruction in Gaza provs that the dossier of hostages is without a doubt a card in Israel’s hand, used to kill Muslims on the pretext of seeking to rescue hostages.

On March 24, 2025, the recently-established Iran-backed Iraqi militia called the Awliya Al-Haqq [Supporters of Truth] Brigades posted two messages on Telegram in which it threatened to attack the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and Israeli and American interests in the country and in the region, in the event of an American or Israeli attack on “the mujahideen” in Iraq, or if the Israeli attacks on Gaza continue. The militia stated that as far as it is concerned, “the American occupier” in Iraq constitutes a target, and it urged the public and the Iraqi security forces to distance themselves from it, for their own safety.

Syria’s transitional authorities announced on Tuesday the appointment of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) military commander, Marhaf Abu Qasra, as the new defense minister, two days after naming former members of opposition factions to key positions. Among those appointed to the armed forces were foreign fighters, including Uyghurs, Jordanians, and Turks, according to Reuters. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and experts identified some of these appointees as “foreign jihadists.”

In the 14 years since the war in Syria broke out, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions have been displaced from their homes or have lost their livelihoods. What began as a popular uprising in March 2011 was met by a swift and brutal crackdown by then-President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. It then morphed into a protracted armed conflict that drew in other countries and led to the emergence of extremist organizations like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

The Middle East’s only viable path toward stability and security lies in fostering dialogue, coordinated initiatives, and joint diplomacy among its influential states.

The 2023–2025 war in Gaza and Lebanon has not only shattered any remaining hopes for regional peace but also exposed the impotence of the international community, the United Nations (UN), and the great powers to decisively intervene and halt the devastation. The conventional narratives of entrenched conflict, stolen aspirations, and elusive stability have been revisited countless times, yet the Middle East remains ensnared in chaos.