This week, Gilad Shalit, after five years of captivity deep in the recesses of the Gaza Strip without visitation from anyone, including the Red Cross, returned home to much fanfare. His family was there, his Prime Minister was there. The world was watching. Gilad of course was not the only one to return home this […]
Informed Americans about international and foreign policy affairs have voiced their frustration about U.S military interventions abroad and the potential for more of such interventions. These frustrations are undoubtedly the results of having been witness to consistent decline in the standards of living by Americans over the past decade, which have sharpened over the past […]
Once the shining example of Turkey’s ‘strategic depth’, the Assad regime, as a result of its repression of Syrian dissent, has moved from a ‘zero-problems’ policy to a ‘tough love’ policy in Turkey’s foreign policy outlook. During his September speech in New York, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized Turkey’s changing view towards the […]
Explosive campaign on Change.org asks Sweden’s minister for migration and asylum policy to reconsider deportation of 20 Iranian Kurds facing prosecution and possible execution in Iran. Amsterdam – More than 56,000 people from over 40 countries have joined a popular campaign on Change.org demanding the Swedish government grant asylum to 20 Iranian Kurds who face […]
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has just released its 2011 Index of African Governance. I’d encourage you to follow the link and download to your heart’s content. For most of you the Summary will be more than sufficient. On the whole Ibrahim himself argues, “The findings of the 2011 Index present a complex yet hopeful picture […]
Compared to other revolutions in the region, Yemen has so far proven to be the most restrained nation of all. Despite the deadly violence used by the government against its people, protesters have always refused to bear arms, choosing to meet the regime’s bullets bare-chested and defiant. But after weathering its bloodiest week yet, Yemen […]
In keeping with other dictatorships in the region, Yemen’s regime decided from the very beginning of the uprising to emulate its Egyptian counterpart in the use of “thugs”, to not only create terror amongst the protesters but also to play the all-important card of denial. Although nothing in Yemen was as flagrant as the Egyptian […]
Last week, President Obama gave a speech to the UN. In it, he spoke about keeping nuclear weapons from Iran and working with the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach peace through negotiations, not through half-measures and paperwork filed at the UN. He came out hard against Palestinian recognition of statehood in the UN General […]
A Turkish oil and gas research ship is exploring off southern Cyprus in an area near the exploration rig operated by U.S. independent Noble Energy Inc., a Turkish foreign ministry official said, in a further escalation of a conflict over drilling rights. Turkish officials said Tuesday the research vessel Piri Reis started its search under […]
As the Media and the international community focused their attention on the advances of the rebels against the Gaddafi forces and gasped at the horrors unfolding in Syria, Yemenis were left to their fate, ignored and unspoken of. Even back in March when the Media was drumming the tune of the Arab Spring onto the […]
My last article theorized about the timing and reasoning behind Turkey’s complete reversal of policy towards Israel. In it, I stated that severing its relationship with Israel was stage one of its race towards regional dominance. I predicted that stage two would likely be the strengthening of ties with other Muslim nations in the […]
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced Friday that he will be submitting his bid for Palestinian statehood to the United Nations Security Council at its upcoming meeting. In the last few days, the media has widely quoted Arab League President Nabil El-Araby’s statement that Abbas intended to bypass the Security Council and submit the statehood […]
Democrats are apparently panicking, well, at least according to several news outlets who are using this week’s congressional race as a barometer of President Obama’s popularity among Jews and the pro-Israel community. In a special election held this week to replace ousted Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) in a heavily Jewish neighborhood, Democrats lost the seat for the […]
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey would be downgrading its diplomatic relations with Israel and cutting all military ties with the state. A few days after the announcement, he stated that there would also be an increase in Turkish ships patrolling the Eastern Mediterranean to ensure the safety of maritime navigation, implying […]
While all eyes are on a likely Turkish land incursion against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Turkey faces the prospect of another security and ideological challenge in the Kurdish hinterland across its border, this time in Syria. Syria’s 1.8 million Kurds (10% of the population) have arguably been the most quiescent of […]