By now, everyone monitoring the developments in the Middle East can’t help but liken them to dominos: once the first dictatorship fell (in Tunisia), the rest were just a matter of time. Of course societies do not behave like toys – what is common among the revolting populations of the Middle East is that they […]
Zainab Jeewanjee discusses CNN coverage of Libya’s Gaddafi and recent uprisings. She weaves that story into a larger discussion of enemy, but rational world figures operating against American interests and how understanding their political objectives is key to an effective counterterrorism strategy post 9/11, specifically in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The chaos in Egypt does indeed signal opportunity, but the big question is whether the Egyptian people (or their fellow protestors in neighboring countries) will end up with genuine reform or merely a different gang of corrupt officials willing to cut more (or different) people in on ‘the take.’
A few points from events on the ground in Cairo as protest continue here: 1-Some government media figures appear to be joining ranks with the protestors. Mahmoud Saad, a talk show host in the Egyptian state-run TV, has announced that he will no longer appear on TV starting tonight after he came under pressure from […]
Egyptian police started beating up journalists protesting outside the Press Syndicate in downtown Cairo. They beat up women journalists too who were screaming and crying for help. “Do not club women. Do not attack women,” some of the men rushed to the police asking them not to target women. “You’ll make things worse if you […]
By Emad Mekay Thousands of Egyptians are demonstrating across the country as I write this in what increasingly looks like an unprecedented unrest in size and ferocity. The protests saw factory workers, university professors, political activists and even women and teenage girls braving riots police and taking to the streets across the country. Many were […]
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Hezbollah’s leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has openly stated that he expects some members of his political party will be indicted, but he vows not to hand them over to be prosecuted. Pro-Syrian Christian politician Suleiman Franjieh recently stated in a television interview on September 23 that if Hezbollah members are indicted “there will be war in Lebanon.”
It’s no surprise that the “biggies”—the McDonalds, the Microsofts, the Boeings—have a MENA presence (MENA=Middle East and North Africa). But what about small to medium enterprises? How do they even begin to take advantage of this huge (and growing) market of hundreds of millions of consumers? A great answer can be found in an article, […]
This week, President Lula kicked off his tour of the Middle East, the first time a Brazilian head of state has been to Israel. His visit began on Sunday in Israel, and Lula will continue on to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian leaders and to Jordan to conclude his trip. In Israel, President […]
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Steven A. Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations has a piece in The New Republic on “The Third Intifada.” The last paragraph is a chilling summary of his excellent analysis: For Washington, which is working hard to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table, the Middle East impasse is about to get a lot worse. […]
Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations has released an excellent report on “Political Instability in Egypt,” through the Center for Preventive Action. The report begins by noting US policymakers’ bias toward assuming that Egypt “will muddle through its myriad challenges and endure indefinitely.” As anyone who has ever tried to study revolutions knows, it […]
Amidst what appears to be a confusion of evidence and a disregard for both the pressures faced by girls sold into marriage and the inherently dual victim-perpetrator status of children in conflict situations, Rania Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Iraqi teenage girl, has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for an attempted suicide […]
