Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: Middle East

The Start of a New Trend? Saudi Writer and Former Royal Naval Officer Urges Arab Population to Re-Consider Stance on Israel

The Start of a New Trend? Saudi Writer and Former Royal Naval Officer Urges Arab Population to Re-Consider Stance on Israel

Three days ago Adulateef Al-Mulhim, a writer at ArabNews.com and a former Royal Saudi Naval officer, wrote a ground breaking op-ed called the “Arab Spring and the Israel Enemy.” In it he calls for the Arab population and their governments to stop demonizing and blaming Israel as the source of their problems. “The Arab world […]

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The Listening Project (2008)

The Listening Project (2008)

Four Americans traveled to 14 countries to find out what ordinary people think of the United States. The responses were predictable: most professed admiration for Americans but vehemently disliked the United States government. There were few surprises in this documentary, which was filmed in “pre-Obama” time. The more touching scenes involve an Afghan woman who lost […]

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The Paradox of Development in Iran

The Paradox of Development in Iran

Looking at the Human Development Index (HDI), the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) seems to have done relatively well in three key areas of health, education and income. While Iran’s score is far from perfect, it is indicative of a rather constant improvement in development areas. In HDI (2011) Iran scored 88 out of 187 […]

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Foreign Affairs Report: Libya in Crisis

Foreign Affairs Report: Libya in Crisis

To provide context to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya and the death of J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Foreign Affairs has put together a collection of the 33 best pieces on the country. Spanning nearly 20 years, “Libya in Crisis” includes articles by Middle East scholar Fouad Ajami, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh […]

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American Ambassador Killed in Libya

American Ambassador Killed in Libya

  I’m saddened by the murder of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, his colleague Sean Smith, and two other colleagues. It’s especially vexing that they should have been killed by Libyans after the role the U.S. played in liberating Libya from the dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Perhaps the Libyans weren’t thinking about that when they […]

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Welcome to the Kurdish Spring, the sequel

Welcome to the Kurdish Spring, the sequel

  It essentially was an accident. Saddam Hussein had been whipped in the 1991 Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush called on Iraq’s Kurds and Shia to rise up. They did  —  but Bush was all talk; there was no U.S. military help and they were slaughtered. So as Kurdish refugees clung to the freezing […]

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The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Scheherezade Faramarzi

The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Scheherezade Faramarzi

Introduction by Azadeh Moaveni: Scheherezade Faramarzi is a celebrated veteran correspondent whose over three decades of reporting for the Associated Press (AP) has spanned from North Africa to Pakistan. Long respected in the field for her profound understanding of the Middle East and keen reportorial eye, she remains one of the most authoritative journalistic observers of […]

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The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Lisa Daftari

The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Lisa Daftari

Lisa Daftari is an independent journalist and analyst from Los Angeles. Lisa has appeared on leading American news organizations including Fox News, Front Page Magazine, Newsmax Magazine, NPR, Daily News, Wall Street Journal, NBC, Voice of America, Russia Today, Wikistrat and PBS. As a rising figure on the American media scene, Lisa is firmly focused on bringing the […]

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Interview on the Geopolitics of Oil

Interview on the Geopolitics of Oil

I would like to point readers interested in the geopolitics of oil to a very interesting interview the Oilprice.com’s geopolitical editor Daniel J. Graeber gave to Infowars.com yesterday evening. Among the topics discussed, I would especially like to draw your attention to the following: How do the tensions in the Middle East impact oil prices? How to […]

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The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Asieh Namdar

The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Asieh Namdar

Asieh Namdar is a Senior Writer at CNN’s sister network HLN. She also served as an anchor for CNN International. She joined CNN in 1989 as a video journalist and continued her career to hold many positions, including producing her own segments. As one of the most experienced writers at the network, Asieh has reported […]

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The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Tala Dowlatshahi

The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Tala Dowlatshahi

Tala Dowlatshahi is the Senior Advisor for Reporters sans Frontières (Reporters without Borders). A member of the Overseas Press Club, Tala serves as the Senior Advisor on the USA board of Reporters Sans Frontières and a board member of the Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting. A roving eye of international journalism, Tala promotes press freedom and global campaigns for freedom of […]

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Havaar: Shedding Light on the Ordeals of Iranian Diaspora in the Midst of Political Tensions

Havaar: Shedding Light on the Ordeals of Iranian Diaspora in the Midst of Political Tensions

The recent tightening of the sanctions regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) as a way to deter the country’s nuclear program continues to be among news headlines. Yet, the US sanction regime against Iran is nothing new and is more than three decades old. In addition to the US sanction regime, there have […]

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The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Sudy Samandari

The Iranian Women in American Journalism Project (IWAJ): Sudy Samandari

Sudy Samandari is co- founder and editor-in-chief of Zan Magazine, a national magazine, the very first of its kind, dedicated to modern Iranian-American woman. Born in Iran and based in Houston, Texas, Sudy comes from a family with a strong tradition in journalism. Her late father was the publisher of Golchin in Houston for 20 years. […]

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Falling Oil Prices Present a Great Opportunity – An Interview with Jim Rogers

Falling Oil Prices Present a Great Opportunity – An Interview with Jim Rogers

By James Stafford World markets appear to be hovering over a precipice as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, slowdowns in India and China and further bank downgrades threaten to send stocks and commodities down even further. Falling oil and gas prices may offer some respite to consumers but are they enough to help the economy or […]

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The UN Chums the Water

The UN Chums the Water

The United Nations has a long history of, what some have called, anti-Israel bias. Many factors contributed to that, including several lop-sided human rights conferences that disproportionately condemned Israel and a high profile report on Israel’s operations against Hamas  in the winter of 2008-2009.  That report was subsequently delegitimized after its chief author, Richard Goldstone, admitted that […]

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