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
Continue Readingby 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
Continue Readingby 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
Continue ReadingThe 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
Continue Readingby 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
Continue Readingby 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
Continue Readingby Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr.* Recent gas attack to a civilian population in the suburbs of Syria that led to the death of hundreds of Syrian was undeniably a crime against humanity and merits an international intervention. The attack was the “largest mass killing of the Syrian Civil War” and the “most deadliest chemical weapons Read more
Continue ReadingA fragile alliance: how the crisis in Egypt caused a rift within the anti-Syrian government block by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirate (UAE), Turkey, and the West condemned in unison the Syrian government for its harsh treatment of Syrians from the first day of the uprising in that country. Many observers Read more
Continue Readingby Mariz Tadros* Thursday was a day of funerals in Egypt. Most international actors have rightly condemned the ruthless violence witnessed against the pro-Morsi protestors, but with the exception of Catherine Ashton of the EU, they have turned a blind eye to the violence witnessed across the country over the course of the same day. Read more
Continue ReadingBy Steve Rendall and Sara McCloskey The murder of British soldier Sgt. Lee Rigby on a London street in May received massive U.S. media attention. The brazenness of the attackers—who allegedly struck Rigby with a car in broad daylight before hacking him to death with bladed weapons—guaranteed coverage. That the crime was captured on videotape Read more
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