Essays

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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?

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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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Arab Spring 2.0: Why did Morsi lose the presidency and how did the Muslim Brotherhood lose a revolution?

Ahmed SouaiaiaLeave a Comment on Arab Spring 2.0: Why did Morsi lose the presidency and how did the Muslim Brotherhood lose a revolution?

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia*   Gruesome killings of Egyptian Shi`as contributed to Morsi’s fall Many Arabs, thirsty for real change, look at the events of the Arab Spring positively. Liberal, secular, conservative, and ultraconservative groups and individuals in the countries transformed by the Arab Spring who supported the overthrow of the old guard agree that Read more

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Managing Syrian Conflict through Diplomacy

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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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Iran New President: Breaking Hard diplomatic Moves of the Past

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by Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr.* Recent development in Iranian presidential election demonstrate that socio-economic forces in the country were invisibly making serious efforts to make sure that a newly- elected president will address the pressing economic hardship being experienced by Iranian people. Such an economic hardship was a result of both Iranian previous government misguided Read more

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