The Following piece is written by a Yemeni-based journalist who writes for Foreign Policy Association (FPA) and, due to serious security concerns, remains anonymous. In recent weeks the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh has been accused of organizing mass kidnapping of protesters to destabilize the revolutionary movement and instill fear within the population. According to […]
Another friday of protests has come and gone: Assad is still in power, however, many protests continue. The past week has seen a raising of rhetorical stakes from the West, despite the fact that the West is pretty much powerless to do anything. US Secretary of State Clinton suggested that the US is closer to declaring […]
George Mitchell, the former Senate Majority Leader and Obama administration’s lead Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiator, resigned, effective next week, but his true impact on the peace process will only emerge when the memoirs are written years from now. On the face of it, though, Mitchell, who managed to secure a northern Ireland peace deal, was not […]
Washington is an interesting town. You never know who you may have lunch with on a day which seems quite ordinary. As part of my quest in following Turkish policy makers, today I found myself in a room with Ian O. Lesser from the German Marshall Fund and Semih Idiz who is a senior […]
A recent Ipsos survey has indicated that Turkey is the most critical NATO member of the operations in Libya. According to the survey the most support for military intervention is in Belgium (78%) followed by strong support in France (72%) and Canada (70%), whereas the weakest support among NATO countries registers in Hungary (54%), Italy […]
The one issue that seems to be getting thrown under the bus, and what might just be most important in the Syrian context, is the issue of class.
The smoke has hardly cleared from the revolution in Egypt, and the Egyptian people already have a new adversary: Turkey. Recent reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas may have taken place in Egypt, but few have cheered more loudly for the results than Turkey. And while Egypt has the power, but not quite the will […]
The Following piece is written by a Yemeni-based journalist who writes for Foreign Policy Association (FPA) and, due to serious security concerns, remains anonymous. After weeks of failed negotiations among members of the Yemeni political coalition: the JMP and the government, Yemenis have decided to take matters in their own hands. So far and despite […]
This week has seen the chances of success for the Syrian opposition go from slim to none. The revolutionary moment has passed and the Assad regime is no longer in immediate danger of being deposed by the Syrian protest movement. Protests will continue in pockets of ongoing resistance, however, the regime has succeeded in isolating […]
As I stated in my last article, Egypt is trying to showcase its apparently rejuvenated power and strength by facilitating Palestinian reconciliation. I personally believe it is a PR move. However, if Egypt wants to prove its might is legitimate, it should find a way to return Gilad Schalit to Israel. No individual, political party, […]
The Following piece is written by a Yemeni-based journalist who writes for Foreign Policy Association (FPA) and, due to serious security concerns, remains anonymous. With Yemen entering its fourth month of protests and scores of casualties (reportedly 140 dead), the country is nowhere nearer a solution. So far it seems that all political negotiations have […]
The protest movement in Syria continues to grow, with thousands of demonstrators taking to the street on Friday for a “day of rage”. We have seen similar days of rage in the other Arab countries that have undergone or are undergoing revolutions. The people of Syria, at first demanding reforms, are now openly calling for […]
The following piece was written by Donna Hakimian, a researcher and historian focusing on modern Iran and human rights. Ms. Hakimian obtained her MA in Women’s Studies from the University of Toronto. She also holds a BA in Religious and Middle Eastern Studies from McGill University. To watch a house burning with great intensity in the […]
From House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office: Jerusalem – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and a bipartisan delegation arrived in Israel today and met with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to discuss U.S.-Israel relations and regional security issues. Leader Pelosi issued the following statement this evening: “Our bipartisan delegation was pleased to arrive in Israel to […]
For the third friday in a row, casualty numbers have declined in ongoing Syrian protests. It would appear that the large scale preemptive arrests carried out by the government over the previous days have been successful in keeping protest numbers down. Reports also indicate that the international Red Cross/Red Crescent has been given access to […]