Sovereignty, Legitimacy and the Responsibility to Protect: Who is responsible and who is legitimate in Syria? by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Syria and the New Middle East Western leaders’ conflicting statements underscore the unease about change in the Arab world. Unless one believes that diplomats speak unscripted, an earlier statementby U.S. secretary of State, John Kerry 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 ReadingInterview in English translation: Interview in Arabic: Watch video The full text of the interview: Question: Mr President, you are welcome on Ulusal TV station. My first question might be a bit strange, but I need to ask it, because in the Turkish and world media there has been a lot of information published to 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 Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Representatives of 57 states, members of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), convened for their regular summit in Cairo this week. Among the notable attendees is the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The latter received a red-carpet welcome as Egypt’s new president, Mohammed Morsi, greeted him on the tarmac at Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Another massacre in Syria: click on image to view video In less than a month, peaceful Tunisian and Egyptian protesters ousted two of the most authoritarian rulers of the Arab world. The human and economic costs: a total of about 1100 people dead (300 in Tunisia and 800 in Egypt) and Read more
Continue ReadingBased on recent events, observers might be mystified by the seemingly unprincipled French involvement in regional and world crises. When the Tunisian uprising that jump-started the Arab Spring began, French leaders sided with the regime and prominent French politicians fell from grace after the revolution succeeded in removing Ben Ali. Then, France did not take any public Read more
Continue ReadingSyria Since the last disappointing meeting of the so-called Friends of Syria in Morocco, which was not attended by Secretary Clinton, diplomats have been active trying to find common ground for solving the Syrian crisis. Most notably, there has been a change of tone in the statements by the supporters of the opposition forces represented Read more
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