Emerging Leaders from Egypt and Tunisia Awarded Fellowships to Work in Congress and U.S. Media Outlets Washington D.C. — The World Affairs Institute has selected thirteen young Egyptians and Tunisians to participate in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Democracy Fellows Program. The Democracy Fellows will arrive on October 1 to begin their two-month […]
The following op-ed piece was written by Hassan Zarehzadeh Ardeshir. Hassan Zarehzadeh Ardeshir is a human rights defender and award winning journalist, currently living inToronto, Canada. He was the spokesman for the United Student Front, the biggest student secular democrat group in Iran, and founder of the first student human rights organization known as the […]
Yemen’s popular uprising started on the wake of the Tunisian and Egyptian’s revolution, in a movement now know as the “Arab Spring”. Just as Egyptians were celebrated the ouster of their dictator, Husne Mubarak, following weeks of mass protests, Yemenis gathered in solidarity near the Egyptian Embassy, wanting to express their joy. The World watched […]
The Middle East is known for its wars. Often, Israel is at the center of the conflict, whether through being attacked by its neighbors, launching a preemptive strike to ward off an impending assault or merely subject to the verbal tirades of its opponents. Some critics of the state also argue that Israel has launched […]
According to Turkish daily Sabah, Turkey’s new strategic focus is shifting from the Aegean towards East Mediterranean. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had indicated earlier that Turkey would take steps towards ensuring freedom of navigation in Eastern Mediterranean, as a reaction to the Palmer report. In the following days it is expected that the Turkish Navy […]
It has been said that the best compromise is one that leaves all parties unhappy. If that is true, then the UN’s Palmer Report was a massive success. So why is everybody so angry? The Palmer Report says that Israel “used unreasonable force in the raid of the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara, but added that […]
That education is a universal right is a principle enshrined in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, for a large part, in the psyche of humanity. Therefore, the idea that one would be barred from higher education based on one’s religious convictions becomes absurd at best. This is the absurd reality that the […]
The following is a contributing piece from guest writer Ladan Yazdian. Ms. Yazdian is a foreign affairs and Middle East specialist. She holds a BA and an MA in political science. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech, working on global security, foreign policy, international relations, and human rights. In the wake of […]
Turkey’s policy in Libya raises questions of how patient it will be with neighbor Syria. In an effort to show Turkey’s leading role in Libya, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutolgu arrived in Benghazi, Tuesday (August 23rd), to meet with the leaders of the National Transitional Council (NTC), becoming the first foreign minister to visit Libya […]
The Palestinian’s unilateral declaration of statehood at the United Nation’s in September is right around the corner, but what was initially considered by some as a shrewd maneuver to force their terms as part of the peace process is now facing a much larger uphill battle. Given that the peace process — propelled by […]
Do I see a little bit of an irony here? Let’s do a count: how many of the current AU member countries have inclusive governments? How many of the current AU member governments came to power through coups? Until now, the sad truth is that, all along, the AU (and its predecessor the OAU) did […]
I’ve been quiet as epochal events have developed in Libya. Suffice it to say that I am cautiously optimistic — Moammar Gaddafi has been bad for Libya, bad for North Africa (ask Chadians about what Libya has meant to them over the year) and especially bad for Pan Africanism, a creed he embraced only after […]
Addressing his cabinet yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu said that Israel does not want a war in Gaza. One of Netanyahu’s aides said, “There’s a sensitive situation in the Middle East, which is one big boiling pot; there’s the international arena; [and] there’s the Palestinian move in the United Nations in September… On […]
Ever since the failure of their reform agenda and their subsequent marginalization by the coming to power of Ahmadinejad, Iran’s reformists have been in near constant search of a well-articulated stance on their role in the country’s political future. The reform agenda by Iranian reformists was crystallized in the two-term presidency of Mohammad Khatami, a […]
The recent outbreak of violence along the Egyptian-Israeli border has momentarily diverted the Israeli public’s attention from the “tent” protests sweeping the country over the last few months. However, it appears that the protest movement will sustain its inertia. Although student-union led protests scheduled to occur over the weekend were cancelled, sizable protests took place […]