Original essays, research notes, and reports
by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* When ISIL suicide bombers killed more than 32 people at a cultural center in Suruç, near Kobani, the AKP led government unleashed waves of airstrikes against PKK fighters in southern Turkey and northern Iraq, instead of launching punishing trikes against ISIL. When two suicide bombers targeted a peace coalition activists, mostly Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* When presidential hopeful Ben Carson appeared on Iowa Press (October 2), he was given a chance to explain to Iowans why he thinks that a Muslim should not be a president. He argued that Islam, because of sharia law, is not compatible with the U.S. constitution and because of that he Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* The peaceful protest movement that started in Syria in 2011 was transformed by foreign governments’ involvement into a civil war fueled by sectarian and ethnic dreams. Now, we can see that Syria is no longer ground for a civil or proxy war, it is scene of a world war. There are Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Syrians as refugees because of this level of destruction of their cities Politics is the art of compromise. Successful politicians rarely give ultimatums because doing so would limit their ability to navigate complex issues. In 2012, President Obama underestimated the complexity of the crisis in Syria. He drew a “red Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Saudi war on Yemen: total destruction On Friday May 8, President Obama announced that he was to meet with the Saudi King, Salman, ahead of the Camp David summit with the GCC rulers. On May 11, a day before the summit, the King cancelled his appearance altogether, a move widely characterized Read more
Continue ReadingDear President Killeen and Acting Chancellor Wilson, We the forty-one undersigned Executive Officers and campus leaders from departments and academic units across the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign urge you to help end the crisis that has plagued our university for more than a year. It has increasingly become clear that the decision to rescind Read more
Continue ReadingThe wave of uprisings known as the Arab Spring may have changed or at least challenged the relationship between the governed and governing actors not only in Arab countries but in other societies with Muslim people around the world. New legal regimes may now navigate sectarian, gender, and religious fault lines in differing ways. Emerging Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* The intent of those who planned and carried out the recent terrorist attack in Tunisia and the reactions to it, both underscore the idiosyncratic connections between economic development and terrorism. Importantly, the attack ought to remind us of the global nature and imperatives, not only of ISIL’s brand of terrorism, but Read more
Continue ReadingGlobal impact of the Arab Spring Global impact of the Arab SpringJuan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of MichiganShibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland.
Continue ReadingThe Arab Spring in a Global Context: Media as an active player in the Arab Spring Sahar Khamis, associate professor, Department of Communication, University of Maryland. Walid Afifi, professor and chair, Department of Communication Studies, University of Iowa.
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