Understanding Israel is a video-interview series created by Rob Lattin for the Foreign Policy Blogs. By speaking to the people on the inside and on the ground, each episode seeks to intimately expose viewers to the important and controversial topics affecting Israel today. Evangelical Christians make up one of America’s largest sects of Israel […]
After years of relative quiet, 2011 was one of the bloodiest in the recent history of the Turkey-Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) conflict. Last week, eight Turkish soldiers and 10 PKK militants were killed following a cross-border attack by the PKK on an outpost in the eastern province of Hakkari. The recent clashes came at a time of growing national and […]
Her name is Neda Semnani. She writes for Roll Call‘s Heard on the Hill (HOH), one of the venerable and decades-old institutions in Washington. With 1300 followers on Twitter, she tweets on the latest on Capitol Hill in 140 characters or less. A product of the Iranian revolution by birth (1979) and London School of Economics […]
Last week, a photo was published that showed two male Israeli soldiers, in uniform, holding hands. The picture was taken from behind, thus the viewer only sees their backs. But the two look very comfortable together. It quickly came out that the photo was staged. One of the men was gay, the other was […]
Israel is one of the world’s science powerhouses. With ten Nobel Prize winners, more than 4,000 technology startups, and high-tech companies reportedly comprising 45% of Israel’s exports, Israel is undoubtedly a technology hub. Despite statistical data identifying the country’s technological superiority, Israel is faced with the threat of its scientists and startup mavens seeking educational […]
Born in the U.S. to Iranian parents and based in Washington D.C., Elahe Izadi is an emerging figure on the American journalism scene, whose work and firm belief in diversity have won her wide recognition in the industry. She has covered such issues as demographics, immigration, government, crime, and development. Until recently at DCentric, where she covered race and […]
Early Wednesday morning, nearly seventy people were killed and more than 100 wounded in a flurry of road-side bombings targeted against Shi’a pilgrims. A redoubtable Sunni insurgency launched the coordinated wave of attacks as tens of thousands of their countrymen participated in a religious festival marking the anniversary of the death of the eighth century […]
The world watched as campaigns during the 2009 Iranian Presidential election unfolded, and hopes were high that an administration change was imminent. The disputed reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad catalyzed a wave of protests. Beginning June 12th, post-election uprisings occurred throughout Iran, and the world, to contest the election results and demand democracy and […]
Source: Google Images The ongoing rivalry between Iran and the United States has always gone beyond the sphere of geopolitics to include the control of Iran’s airwaves and influence the Iranian public opinion. Voice of America/Persian News Network (VOA/PNN) has been at the center of U.S. efforts to provide the Iranian public with news […]
Over at the Huffington Post (via AP), Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Brian Murphy raise an interesting point regarding the political crisis currently gripping Iraq’s fragile parliamentary patchwork. They note leadership in Iran is desperately clinging to their power proxy in Baghdad – Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, and his factional allies in the Iraqi National Alliance. Their […]
Dear FPA Blog Readers, Here is a brief summary of recent debates (concerning the new education law and abortion) and the legal case against the renowned Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say. I believe all three issues signal the rapid erosion of democratic governance and rule of law in Turkey and they seriously challenge […]
Political liberalism emphasizes the effectiveness of diplomacy and cooperation to solve international problems. Under the principle of liberalism, countries’ interactions to solve shared problems can result in mutually beneficial resolutions. Contrastingly, liberalism’s counterpart, political realism, emphasizes the maintenance and use of power in a country’s domestic and international agendas. Stressing countries’ individual struggles for power, […]
How at the time a recent graduate of Columbia Journalism School, from her parents’ living room in Boston, launched one of the most trusted and sophisticated sources of news and commentary on Iran? Born in Iran, Kelly Golnoush Niknejad moved to the United States when she was 17. She holds a B.A. in political science and writing and a law degree […]
Syrian refugees sit outside their tents at Reyhanli refugee camp in Hatay province on the Turkish-Syrian border in April. Turkey’s prime minister recently warned that ‘Syria must be aware that in the event of a repetition of border violations, Turkey’s stance will not be the same.’ A fifth of Turkish military’s top brass is under […]
Jump-starting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations with unilateral declarations of statehood have long been considered a highly controversial and dangerous step that could ignite the conflict even further. Generally, a unilateral declaration of statehood from the Palestinians has been expected to emerge from West Bank leadership and not Jerusalem. That dynamic might be turned on its ear, […]