by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* The wide-spreading protest movement in Turkey is bringing up the irresistible analogy: Taksim Square is for Turkey what Tahrir Square is for Egypt. Considering that Tahrir Square events were the extension of the protest movement that started it all from Tunisia, it follows that the turmoil in Turkey is similar to Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* The article in The Atlantic, The Emir of NYU (MAR 13, 2013), touched on a very important issue: academic integrity. It came on the heels of the no-confidence vote NYU’s faculty in the College of Arts and Science delivered against the president, John Sexton. Sexton is renowned for creating satellite research Read more
Continue ReadingThe Pakistanization of Turkey and the Afghanization of Syria in the new proxy-war by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Witnessing the first democratic elections in Tunisia in 2011, I stood at the edge of the city listening to residents explaining the role of “neighborhood watch committees” in keeping peace and protecting personal and public property. Read more
Continue Reading*His Excellency Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan Minister of Foreign Affairs United Arab Emiratesvia fax +971 02 444 7766 Your Excellency, I write to you on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) to register shock and deep dismay at the denial of entry Read more
Continue Readingby Jacob Havel The advent of the so called “Arab Spring” in the Middle East and North Africa has come about with incredible velocity and intensity. The world has seen dictators, who had been in power for decades, fall in the blink of an eye in both Tunisia and Egypt. Consequently, the possibility of revolution Read more
Continue ReadingIn the last two weeks, violent protests have taken place in the two countries that started the Arab Spring: Tunisia and Egypt. In Tunisia, protesters paralyzed the province of Siliana. Like Sidi Bouzid, where Elbouazizi sparked the Tunisian revolution, Siliana has many grievances. But protests quickly spread to other cities including the capital, Tunis. The Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* On October 31, I wrote, Who is the Syrian Opposition?. Less than two weeks later, a new coalition of opposition figures was born in Qatar, underscoring the erratic composition of the groups fighting to oust Bashar Assad from power. Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, Riad Seif, Suhair al-Atassi, and Mustafa al-Sbbagh The Syrian National Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Map: Syria and Iran The third presidential debate in the United States’ race focused on foreign policy. In reality, there was no real debate. It was an argument between two candidates about which one of them would apply policies that are already in place better than the other. Granted that Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Armed opposition groups operating inside Syria may have violated international humanitarian law by committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Arguably, some members of the Syrian troops may also have committed similar violations. However, the self-incriminating evidence released by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups is simply overwhelming. The evidence used Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* With two superpowers emphatically vetoing three UNSC resolutions on three different occasions, the world could not be more divided about the Syrian crisis. World leaders are nonetheless united in their rhetoric supporting peaceful protest. The Syrian crisis, however, revealed troubling contradictions in the position taken by key countries. For example, Read more
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