Majority, including supporters of National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, want a negotiated solution to the Syrian crisis

The Coalition will either negotiate with the regime or it will become irrelevant by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Responding to a non-scientific poll posted on the website of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (the Coalition), 66.2% of the respondents wanted the group to attend the Geneva-2 conference. In fact, 33.6% of the Read more

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The role of the military and the rulers of the Gulf States in stabilizing or de-stabilizing Egypt

by Henelito A. Sevilla Jr* The ouster of the first democratically elected president of Egypt, Mohammad Morsi, puzzled many analysts and made it hard to predict the future of Egypt. People from the beginning of the revolution have been asking for economic and political reform. Instead, Morsi’s government first step was to amend the constitution, Read more

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Al-Qaidah affiliated groups’ preemptive plans: kill the FSA leaders, confiscate their arms, and declare an independent Islamic state in northern Syria

Nusra fighters transporting weapons in Syria, Monday. By Fawzi Najm* In a series of gruesome acts designed to be a show of force and to intimidate opponents, Islamist fighters affiliated with al-Qaidah have slaughtered rebel leaders belonging to the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) and confiscated their large cache of weapons. Parts of a plan Read more

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Between the two camps, Egypt’s media outlets have chosen to take sides in the ongoing tragic split

by Ahmed Magdy Youssef*  Egypt’s last two weeks’ incessant events not only gripped the minds and hearts of the Egyptians, but they captured the interest of the national and international media as well. For many Egyptians, mostly those who filled public squares across the country to demand Mr. Morsi’s removal and early presidential elections, the Read more

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International leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood meet in Turkey to strategize for the crisis in Egypt and to plan for the future

Middle East Politics Reshuffle: The Future of Islam in the public sphere by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Ghannouchi to take a major role in Muslim Brotherhood International The overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood’s government in Egypt on July 3rd, 2013 forced the group’s international leaders to rethink the movements options. This weekend, they gathered in Turkey. Read more

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Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs

Tayeb El-Hibri. Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. xi + 471 pp. $60.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-231-15082-8; ISBN 978-0-231-52165-9. Reviewed by Zohar Hadromi-Allouche (Divinity and Religious Studies — University of Aberdeen) This study is dedicated to the historiography of the Rashidun caliphate. El-Hibri states at the Read more

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Rulers of Saudi Arabia and UAE throw their support behind the new regime in Egypt

By Fahd Makhtul MENA The rulers of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have taken the lead to shore up the new regime in Egypt. The two countries together are to provide nearly $8 billion in the form of goods, grants, and loans.  King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia ordered an aid package totaling nearly $5 Read more

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Armed Forces: What’s Next for Morsi’s Egypt?

Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr The Arab uprisings are redefining the political landscape of the Middle East and North African region. Despite recent transitional political processes being experienced by some Arab countries, chaos, uncertainty, fear, cases of sexual abuses against women, and struggle for power by sectarian groups still describe the general condition of affected countries Read more

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Managing Syrian Conflict through Diplomacy

by Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr.  The complexity of issues surrounding the Syrian civil war requires not only diplomatic negotiations at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) but also through multilevel consultations of many important actors that have significantly contributed to either finding the solution or to worsening of the problem. What we have seen in Read more

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