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A striking confirmation of the turning point reached by the Trump Administration in foreign policy — this, in essence and succinctly, is how several observers and analysts reacted to the United States’ National Security Strategy, released a few days ago by the White House. This major document, about thirty pages long and preceded by a foreword from President Donald Trump, sets out in detailed form the orientations and objectives Washington has defined regarding current developments in the world’s sensitive regions and the vital issues playing out on the international stage. The ideas presented by the administration’s team in the federal capital are not entirely surprising. They had already been the subject of active debate in various political and diplomatic circles, but it is likely the first time they have been assembled so comprehensively and methodically — theme by theme, region by region — in a single official document emanating from the highest levels of power.

Twenty years ago, Gebran Tueini was literally pulverized in a car-bomb attack. His assassins from the Damascus–Tehran axis, together with their Lebanese accomplices, had placed him on the blacklist of “dangerous personalities” to be eliminated at all costs, insofar as the latter had managed, within a few years, to reconstitute a distinctly Lebanese idea of a plural and coherent front, one that guaranteed sovereignty and freedom. A compact front, capable of transcending the divisions inherited from the civil war and the sectarian compartmentalizations on which the axis had waltzed for decades in order to divide the Lebanese more effectively, and thereby establish itself as the authority responsible for settling the very conflicts it had itself created, according to the classic logic of the arsonist-firefighter.

In 2006, credit markets priced U.S. housing risk as diversified. The subprime market was born. The mathematics looked safe. Reality delivered collapse — and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. In 2025, a strikingly similar illusion has taken hold — this time in artificial intelligence. For now, AI has been largely a capital-expenditure phenomenon, dominated by a very small number of companies such as Nvidia and Oracle — the modern “shovel makers” — building chips and data centers to absorb nearly $1.5 trillion of cumulative investment by a handful of hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. This unprecedented spending wave has driven stock prices to unimaginable heights.

“Nostra aetate” profoundly reshaped dialogue between Catholics and Muslims. From John Paul II to Pope Francis, the Holy See has pursued its work of encounter and fraternity. This is the third installment in our series. It is hard to overstate the impact of the 1965 declaration Nostra aetate on relations between the Catholic Church and the Arab-Muslim world. To grasp this fully, nothing is more helpful than reading the text itself, which presents no dogmatic difficulty. Here is the passage that concerns us directly: “(…) The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

The Muscat Opera House is one of the most iconic landmarks in Oman. It was built in 2011 at the request of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Great lover of art and opera, the Sultan wanted to create a cultural exchange center between Oman and the rest of the world, as well as a platform to promote both global and local artistic performances. A symbol of Oman’s cultural diplomacy since its inauguration, the Royal Opera House Muscat is an architectural masterpiece which cleverly combines the classical style of opera houses with Omani architectural tradition. It successfully blends Islamic influences with contemporary design and high-tech requirements needed for such a building.

The visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon was not merely a passing religious or pastoral stop; it was a profoundly political moment in one of the region’s most sensitive phases. A visit that carried messages to Lebanon’s domestic scene as much as it carried messages outward — specifically to Israel, and to the international powers holding the threads of the regional game. Yet the question that resonated strongly after the Pope’s departure was this: Did the visit put an end to the idea of an Israeli attack on Lebanon? The answer is not simple. Between the immense symbolic value of the visit and the cold strategic calculations along the southern border, one clear truth emerges: the visit granted Lebanon a temporary psychological and political breathing space, but it did not erase the logic of war. Still, together with the escalating French diplomatic activity and the President’s visit to the Sultanate of Oman, it helped create a new political and diplomatic deterrence network — one that may slow down a decision for war, and perhaps even redraw its terms.