Essays

The Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi, Sisi, and the future of Egypt

A. F. al-Sisi by Jared Ethan Krauss  IN a move that surprised everyone not in Sisi’s circle, the cabinet has resigned. The move comes as, in recent weeks, criticism and protests of the interim government have grown.  Egypt has seen no economic improvements since the revolution, and violence has only increased since the ouster of Morsi. Read more

Continue Reading

Lack of real representation of Syrians doomed the Geneva meetings

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia*   Two rounds of indirect talks between representatives of the Syrian government and some representatives of the Syrian Coalition have failed to launch a political dialogue to end the deadly crisis in Syria, now entering its fourth year. The failure was expected. Members of the opposition forces did not represent even Read more

Continue Reading

What President Obama should tell the Saudi rulers?

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia*   President Obama On the same day when Saudi Arabia issued a royal decreecriminalizing Saudi citizens’ participation in the war in Syria (or joining Jihadi groups), the White House confirmed that President Obama will be visiting the Kingdom in March. It seems a reasonable assumption that during this v­isit, Obama will Read more

Continue Reading

Breaking the Cycle: Could Iranian and U.S. officials overcome their mutual distrust?

Breaking the Cycle: Could Iranian and U.S. officials overcome their mutual distrust? by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Rafsanjani and Khatami After inking an interim agreement at the end of 2013, Iran and the P5+1 must now finalize a final nuclear agreement within six months. If they fail, U.S. and Iran will relive the cycle of mutual Read more

Continue Reading

Muslim attitudes towards evolutionary science

by Ebrahim Moosa * Despite the combative relationship that some Muslims had with modern science during the colonial period, science still embodies the hope for the “future recovery” of Muslim societies, argues historian of science Ahmad Dallal. In order to come to grips with the human person in the context of modern science, I have Read more

Continue Reading

How different are the new constitutions of Tunisia and Egypt?

How different are the new constitutions of Tunisia and Egypt? by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* The two countries transformed first by the Arab Spring now have new constitutions. The two countries are similar in many ways. Yet, the processes of producing their respective constitutions and the substance of each document point to the forces that made Read more

Continue Reading

Geneva-1 Final communiqué of the Action Group for Syria; and the basis for Geneva-2 meeting

Geneva-1 was a meeting called by the Peace Envoy Lakdar Brahimi, 14 foreign ministers and heads of intergovernmental organizations attended. At the conclusion of that meeting, they issued a statement, which was then used as the basis for Geneva-2, which brought together, for the fist time, representatives of the Syrian government and representatives of one Read more

Continue Reading

Tunisia’s Ennahda movement, perhaps learning from the crises of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and AKP in Turkey, compromises to remain relevant

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia*   On January 14, Tunisians will celebrate their revolution, which ignited a wave of protest that swept most of the Arab world. For this third anniversary, the Salvation Front, representing key leaders from political parties and civil society, gave the Tunisian people and the Arab masses a set of rare gifts: Read more

Continue Reading

English Translation of the Tunisian Draft Constitution (post revolution)

The Tunisian National Constituent Assembly issued a draft constitution on Dec. 14, 2012. Civil society representatives in six of Tunisia’s 24 municipalities met with assembly members to discuss the text later that month. The National Constituent Assembly launched the initiative with the United Nations to “enhance citizens’ participation in the debate.” The following is a Read more

Continue Reading