The following is a guest appearance by by Adam Hedengren, co-founder and managing editor, and David Hedengren, co-founder and editor-in-chief of YourMiddleEast.Com We are two brothers on a quest to challenge the major media companies’ Middle East and North Africa coverage. We believe that there are no satisfactory sources of news and information in English about […]
You hear many words of wisdom traveling through the Mideast, all which offer insightful pondering to events past and present. Watching the tragic escalation of events in Syria and the failing efforts to bring the fighting to a close bring to mind words often spoken by the Kurds of the region, who are well-versed in […]
It’s just so hard to launch an international bash these days. Everyone’s a critic. Just ask Azerbaijan. Preparations for Eurovision, one of Europe’s biggest song contests to be held in May in Baku, are regularly sidetracked either by criticism of the country dismal human rights record, or allegations of the country’s silent involvement in Iran-Israeli […]
A recent article in The Economist discussed the effect that rising food prices played in the unrest leading up to the Arab Awakening, and how efforts to combat high food prices continue to affect governments in the Middle East. Record prices during the global food crisis of 2007-2008 brought unprecedented food riots to countries like […]
Wide speculations about the possibility of military confrontation with Iran and Israel’s military intentions seem to be the order of the day. The debate on Iran has now found its way from mainstream media to leading academic institutions. Earlier this week at the University of Toronto a panel of experts discussed the increasing tensions between […]
Since the reign of terror from President Bashar-al Assad’s regime began the UN estimates that over 9,000 innocent Syrian civilians have died at his hands. The local coordination committees estimate that the number of those killed is upwards of 11,000 in addition to those who are injured or incarcerated. Syria has accepted a peace plan from […]
The world has found a way to strike back at Syrian President Bashar Assad: they have slapped travel sanctions on his London-born wife, Asma, to thwart her addiction to luxury shopping. One year into Assad’s churning assault against various opposition groups, stopping his wife from shoping in Europe is one of the few things the […]
This article originally appeared on the Fikra Forum (March 22, 2012) —————————– In recent months, as uncertainty over Assad’s future continues, Turkey’s position with regard to its potential military or humanitarian intervention has been heavily debated. While Turkish leaders have condemned the Syrian government’s brutal suppression of dissent since February 2011 and warned several times […]
This article, appeared on the Political Reflections Magazine, vol.3, n.2, is the second part of my review of FPA’s Great Decisions episode on the Arab Spring: The first part, providing a general overview of the debate can be found here. ********************************** As the uncertainty of the Arab Spring continues, the debate on the future of […]
A full-page ad in today’s Washington Post featuring former top U.S. military and intelligence officials urging President Obama to resist the pressure for a war of choice with Iran. The ad, sponsored by National Iranian-American Council (NIAC), comes on the same day that President Obama is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at […]
The following session was held at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Friday February 24. http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/02/24/battle-for-power-in-iran/9ojx Mehrzad Boroujerdi is Associate Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs where he also serves as the Founding Director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program and Founding Co-Director of the Religion, […]
From John R. Bradley, the Middle East correspondent and writer who correctly predicted the Egyptian revolution, comes a new message about the Arab Spring: “everything we have been told about it is wrong”. John R. Bradley sat down with Reza Akhlaghi of Foreign Policy Association to discuss his latest book: ‘After the Arab Spring: How Islamists Hijacked the […]
The following animation is from Next Media Animation’s News Direct service, whose re-enactments are based on news media reports.
The following is an announcement by Amnesty International. (New York) – Iran has unleashed a wave of repression in the lead up to parliamentary elections this week, Amnesty International reports today, targeting everyone from students, lawyers, religious leaders and bloggers to political activists and their relatives. The authorities have launched a new “cyber army” and […]
It took NATO 46 years and eight months before it intervened with military force to protect innocent civilians from harm and manage a conflict on its periphery. Can we truly expect the Arab League to move any quicker in dealing with problems in its neighborhood? Probably not. When NATO finally heeded the call from those […]