Jehan Sadat answers questions for Deborah Solomon in the Sunday Times. I don’t know how enthusiastic I would be about taking her course on the status of women in the Middle East after reading it.
Jehan Sadat answers questions for Deborah Solomon in the Sunday Times. I don’t know how enthusiastic I would be about taking her course on the status of women in the Middle East after reading it.
Lebanon’s June elections are shaping up to be a referendum on who the Lebanese people want to meddle in their affairs less: “Our course is justice, independence, freedom, sovereignty and most importantly — Lebanon first,” Hariri told AFP in an interview, referring to his coalition backed by the West as well as Saudi Arabia and […]
Patrick French, a scholar and one with family connections in Pakistan’s Swat region, recently allowed to be ruled by Sharia law by the Paki government, argues that this is a disastrous policy. He asserts that the Swat settlement was an appeasement of radical Taliban leaders who will continue to foment unrest and violence further and […]
The Israeli government declared an uncompromising stance yesterday regarding negotiations to free abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shilat in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. PM Ehud Olmert stated that certain Hamas demands would “cross a red line,” effectively ending the most recent efforts to ensure Shalit’s release. Hamas finger-pointed blame for failure in the […]
Islamabad, Pakistan — On a day of delirious public celebrations over Pakistan’s popular chief justice getting his job back, President Asif Ali Zardari stayed conspicuously out of sight. The 52-year-old president, whose popularity had been flagging even before Pakistan’s latest political crisis, was like an unwelcome guest Monday at a raucous nationwide party, pilloried for […]
WASHINGTON — President Obama and his national security advisers are considering expanding the American covert war in Pakistan far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different center of Taliban power in Baluchistan, where top Taliban leaders are orchestrating attacks into southern Afghanistan. According to senior administration officials, two of the high-level reports […]
WASHINGTON: The US State Department has said that Washington is not going to tell Pakistani politicians how to end the governor’s rule in Punjab or to revoke the disqualification order against the Sharif brothers. ‘Well, look, that’s the decision that’s going to be left to Pakistani authorities. That’s not an issue for the United […]
WHAT prompted the government’s change of heart at the eleventh hour that led to the announcement about the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry? Whatever other factors may have been at play, we also know that America, Britain and the Pakistan Army were active behind the scenes. But did anyone note that in the days […]
The “victory” celebration after the calling off of the Long March was still going on when a suicide-bomber struck at the Pirwadhai bus station in Rawalpindi, killing 14 people. The immediate speculation was that the suicide bomber was despatched to hit the Long March itself since it was to pass near where the terrorist finally […]
WASHINGTON: The United States not only used the threat of an aid cut to defuse a potentially explosive situation in Pakistan but also had doubts about the Zardari government’s ability to fight terrorism, US officials and lawmakers said on Tuesday. Senator Patrick J. Leahy, who chairs the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds US foreign aid […]
Khouri’s op-ed in the Middle East Times cautions against seeing the US’/Britain’s/et cetera’s choices to engage governments like the al Asad regime in Syria or the Iranian theocracy as necessarily evidence of a shift in viewpoints. Isolation was not really getting the West anywhere it wanted to go, so reversing that policy isn’t necessarily a […]
With the new American administration, the global financial crisis, and the intra regional wranglings much is happening in the broader Middle East. The very presence of Israel within the region remains a major problem for some. Lebanon tries hard to be an independent state; as much as it can in the regional and international context. […]
President Obama has officially named Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry as his choice to be the US ambassador to Afghanistan. Eikenberry, a career military man, was the top US commander in Afghanistan until 2007. Though some are concerned about giving such a key diplomatic spot to a military leader, I feel this is an excellent choice. […]
New trouble looming over Chinese-Australian mining deal Australian politicians called for an inquiry into the country’s foreign investment laws as state-owned Aluminium Corporation of China is pursuing a $19.5 billion purchase of Rio Tinto’s mining assets in Australia. The Chinalco-Rio Tinto deal has caused significant suspicion among Australian officials that there are higher political motives […]
The possible agreement between Israel and Hamas for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit may have derailed negotiations. Hamas may toughen its stance due to confirmation of the immense domestic pressure in Israel to ensure Shalit’s return, thereby weakening the government’s hand. Moreover, with PM Ehud Olmert nearing the culmination of his term, many […]