Throughout the four years of covering the war in Bosnia, we male correspondents secretly feared for our female colleagues. We shared all the dangers and challenges except for one — sexual assault. That was a war where bounties were put out for some reporters and rapes camps inflicted horror for local women; as they told […]
2011 evidenced our inability to predict substantial change and respond to tumultuous events. The ramifications of foreign policy decisions will not show their true colors for some time. Below, I discuss notable states – Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Qatar, Cuba, Burma, Ivory Coast, Norway, Israel, and Palestine – that I believe are important because of their effects on peace […]
There’s a LOT going on in the Middle East/North Africa this week—elections in Morocco and Egypt, unrest in Syria, crackdown on protesters in Bahrain…the list goes on. Don’t have time to sift through all the commentaries and coverage? No problem. Let me break it down for you and give some highlights about what’s being said […]
Yesterday, Moroccans went to the polls for the first parliamentary elections after the Constitutional referendum earlier this summer. As I mentioned last week, there would be three questions to answer after the elections, so let’s see 1) What was the turnout? The official figure is 45%, which is definitely decent. (). The big fear was […]
I recently had the opportunity to catch up with producer Matthew Tollin about his new documentary, Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace. Back Door Channels is the true story of the men who brought an unlikely lasting Peace to the Middle East. For the first time ever, the filmmakers take the audience behind the […]
Has America exhibited moral courage by addressing change, or the lack there of, in the world? Or has it squandered our hope for a principled effort to rid American foreign policy of its realist inclinations and desire to cling to paradigms? Many of us have placed our trust in America (i.e., President Obama) to challenge […]
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 […]
Amidst the protests, loss of life, and apparent lack of progress in the uncoordinated Arab Spring, a glaring issue has arisen in each state affected by the wave of tumult: there is an absence of charismatic leadership in support of the revolution. Use of violence to consolidate the revolution and move beyond the narrative of […]
Coca-Cola Commercial – Lyrics: We have sworn to erase the impossible/ It should be hope, or no other alternative/ No matter how long they say the night is/ There is no sleep, when it is time for seriousness/ Make tomorrow better, with your hands, you will defy the clouds/ Make tomorrow better, the sun rises […]
Is the Arab Spring going to lead to polarized, issue-specific politics, similar to those that currently afflict America? If so, what are the implications for the wave of revolution and can, or even should, the US do anything to ensure that the democratic revolution is cemented? Moreover, what would the long-term effects of polarized politics […]
By Atef Said I got on a plane to Cairo on February 4, ten days after Egyptians took to the streets in a popular revolution that eventually led to the ouster of notorious dictator Hosni Mubarak. I had mixed emotions when leaving for Egypt: anxiety about the family I was leaving behind and about my […]
Twilight on the corniche in Beirut in February The chatter in the news and on Twitter today is about President Obama’s big speech on the Middle East at the State Department tomorrow. What will he say? There is no question this is a serious opportunity to get the Arab Spring back on track. It has veered […]
Think small, think negative. America is bogged down in a seemingly purposeless war in Afghanistan while facing a fleeting enemy, the Taliban. Authoritarian regimes in the Arab world – Bahrain, Libya, Syria, etc. – refuse to allow for self-determination and continue to massacre civilians. Rohingya (a minority under grave threat in Burma) in Bangladesh are […]
India has an inclination for strengthening democracy as opposed to spreading it. With the recent flurry of popular protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other countries of the Middle East it looks like balancing support for democracy with strategic national interests has emerged as the central theme for contemporary global relations. The United States while expressing […]
Florida’s political bigshots spent part of the week-end at the country’s first hybrid solar/natural gas power plant. Florida Power and Light’s Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center has more than 190,000 mirrors that cover about 500 acres (202.34 hectares). The mirrors track the sun during the day to focus the sun’s rays onto water-filled pipes. […]