Author: ISR--Research Team

https://islamicsocietiesreview.org/

A Moroccan view on Catalan independence: Madrid’s continued support for the independence movement in the Western Sahara is hypocritical when compared with their attitude towards independence movements closer to home

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by Hassan Masiky* Sahara Behind Spain’s European veil is a country struggling to deal with its painful history. Catalonians’ quest for independence exposes Spaniards’ agony over Franco’s legacy and the destructive historical ramifications of the dictator’s actions in Europe and North Africa. For Moroccans, Madrid’s opposition to Catalans’ rights to self-determination while Spain supports the Read more

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Rouhani and Obama: Diplomacy Amidst Conflict

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by Jacob S. Havel Khamenei and Rouhani   The recent phone call between President Barack Obama and President Hassan Rouhani has historical implications. It was the first direct talk between presidents of the U.S. and Iran in thirty years. Nonetheless, the phone call, which lasted a brief fifteen minutes, represents the start of new diplomatic Read more

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Syria’s Kurds, hopes and fears: The civil war in Syria has put great strains on the country’s Kurdish population. The Syrian Kurds’ most powerful politician, Saleh Muslim Mohammad, talks to Vicken Cheterian about their position and future

ISR--Research TeamLeave a Comment on Syria’s Kurds, hopes and fears: The civil war in Syria has put great strains on the country’s Kurdish population. The Syrian Kurds’ most powerful politician, Saleh Muslim Mohammad, talks to Vicken Cheterian about their position and future

by Vicken Cheterian* Saleh Muslim Mohammad is the head of the Partiya Yekitiya Demokrat (Democratic Union Party / PYD) and the most powerful politician among the Syrian Kurds. The party – founded in 2003, and closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a longstanding armed campaign in the Kurdish-majority regions of Read more

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Harsh Qatari Labor Conditions Move Center Stage As FIFA Debates World Cup

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By James M. Dorsey* Controversy over conditions for unskilled and semi-skilled workers in Qatar involved in the construction of World Cup-related infrastructure as well as for flight attendants of Qatar Airways, the 2022 tournament’s likely official carrier, has moved center stage as world soccer body FIFA prepares to debate next week the Gulf state’s hosting Read more

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Doha debate reveals gulf between locals, its elite and expatriates

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by Sarah El-Richani* Recent commentaries by Qatari citizens and journalists both in the local and social media reveal a polity eager to engage critically and openly on the manner in which its ruling elite are managing the country’s immense oil and gas revenues. Concerns voiced reveal a divide between the largely conservative population and the Read more

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One cannot ignore religion in social policy-making in the Middle East

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by Rana Jawad* At long last governments and international development agencies are interested in social welfare and social protection issues in the MENA region (particularly in the Arab and Muslim-populated countries). Ten years ago this was a very different story. No one spoke of the need to protect citizens in the MENA region (except perhaps Read more

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Deficiencies in the arguments for a U.S. war on Syria and the perils of military intervention in Syria without UNSC authorization

ISR--Research TeamLeave a Comment on Deficiencies in the arguments for a U.S. war on Syria and the perils of military intervention in Syria without UNSC authorization

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* UNSC Answering a reporter’s question if bombing Syria is needed in order to preserve his credibility since he was the one who set a red line, President Obama replied: “First of all, I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line. The world set a red line when Read more

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A Dangerous Delusion: Why the West Is Wrong About Nuclear Iran by Peter Oborne and David Morrison

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The dark heart of West’s Iran obsession A Dangerous Delusion: Why the West Is Wrong About Nuclear Iran, Elliott & Thompson (April, 2013). ISBN-10: 1908739894. ISBN-13: 978-1908739896. Price US$11.58. 112 pages.  Reviewed by Peter Jenkins*  A Dangerous Delusion: Why the West Is Wrong About Nuclear Iran is the work of one of Britain’s most brilliant Read more

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Why would Putin be happy with or without a U.S. war in Syria?

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by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Talking to reporters after the conclusion of the G20 meeting, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, declared that any military intervention in Syria without UNSC authorization is an illegal act of aggression. He also said that his country will supply (sell, that is) the Syrian government with weapons to defend itself. Read more

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Mass slaughter of civilian Kurds in Syria ignites heavy clashes and mass exodus

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by Rozh Ahmad*   Kurdish civilians escaping for their lives in Syria The al-Qaeda linked “Jabhat al-Nusra” (al-Nusra Front) in Syria, has been held responsible for having instigated a sectarian racist war against civilian Kurds in Syria’s northern Kurdish region, the outcomes of which recently led to the massacre of hundreds of Kurdish women and Read more

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