When you isolate the noise and posturing from the facts that are governing the course of the war in Ukraine, which, at this point, is more than a special military operation given the involvement of NATO (though Russian leaders do not think that that line was crossed), two positions have been clearly stated. The first Read more
Continue ReadingWhile the Turkish president celebrates his re-election, we can reason that the results point to a difficult future for Erdogan and his party, due, in part, to Erdogan’s rhetoric that emphasized personality over ideas and loyalty over concern for the nation. 1. Erdogan’s party lost its majority. In the re-do votes of November 2015, the Read more
Continue ReadingThe results may be disappointing to Iraqi politicians, but it is a positive sign for the process. To form a government, they must work together to form a governing coalition, and the results show that there is no king maker. Here is what we know about the requirements and about the results: available seats 329, Read more
Continue ReadingAs in 2017, Trump refuses to acknowledge the presence of Muslim Americans. So we refer readers to the same comment from last year. And here is the Presidential Message on Ramadan 2018:
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* During the last of week of November, the Emir of Kuwait sent out formal invitations to all leaders of member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, originally and still commonly known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), to attend the 38th summit (December 5, 2017). Read more
Continue ReadingISR comment: Four Arab States want Qatar to close down Aljazeera, a sign that the current crisis is in fact a reaction to and fear of the protest movements popularly known as the Arab Spring. It was on the pages of ISR that the role of Aljazeera in galvanizing social change in the Arab world Read more
Continue ReadingWhen the British government is forced to choose between factual truth and political imperatives, it chose politics The UK’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stated a fact almost universally known by now. He pointed out that Saudi Arabia is fomenting sectarian war in the region. Saudi officials were angered by the comments and Saudi media accused Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia * Trump said many things that offended many people. Muslim Americans were among those offended by his comments on refugees, terrorism, and Islam. Now that he is elected to be the 45th president of the United States, should Muslims freak out? To answer this question, I include this essay, which I Read more
Continue ReadingConsidering the utterly conflicting reports about a single strike, not a battle or a war, it becomes evident that a truthful narrative about war is elusive and indistinguishable from propaganda. This fact was underscored in the wildly divergent reports about a single attack on ISIL’s fighters fleeing the recently liberated city of Fallujah. In the Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Saudi Arabia’s bizarre behavior was on display, again, during the last two weeks. The recent actions reveal how Saudi Arabia’ rulers leverage the kingdom’s oil-generated wealth, Wahhabism, and religious sites and institutions to exert unmatched control in world politics–unmatched even by the superpowers of today.Here is the chain of events.On Thursday, Read more
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