Gouya Roshan From Darkness to Light

Sit in your place.  In a political system, immunity can be necessary to guarantee the position and continuity of government. However, when it becomes a shield against accountability, its meaning changes. It no longer simply means protecting a position; it means creating a distance between a decision and its consequences. The greater this distance becomes, the more political responsibility is weakened. Those who make decisions but do not directly experience their consequences may gradually stop seeing war as a human catastrophe and instead view it as an instrument of foreign policy, a military option, or a bargaining tool. At this stage, the individual moves from being a “decision-maker” to becoming someone who “bears the cost of the decision.” Immunity does not eliminate responsibility overnight; rather, it gradually erodes it within the realm of power. When a leader can repeatedly make decisions and place the burden of their consequences on others, accountability gradually turns...

Saudi Arabia: Years of Anxiety Labeled as “Hostility” As an analyst, I believe it is my duty to examine the facts as objectively and impartially as possible, without any personal bias. However, sometimes the difference between analysis and prediction becomes apparent only with the passage of time. In 2010, I wrote an article about Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s growing influence in the Arab world. On the surface, the article focused on Turkey and Erdoğan; but at a deeper level, it revealed something else: the changing balance of power in the Middle East and the concerns of some countries in the region about Iran’s growing influence and power. At the time, the exact reasons for this anxiety were not clear to me. Was it hostility? Was it fear? Was it competition? Or was it something deeper? Today, sixteen years later, I can define it precisely: I have been concerned about Iran. I have been concerned about the circumstances arising from this country becoming a threat to Middle Eastern countries a...