The debate about whether ISIS, the Taliban, or Al-Qaeda are expanding or being contained in Arab lands and Afghanistan is important news in many countries, and deserves a closer look to try to discern the real issues we should be following. This is certainly a topic of constant discussion among foreign policy practitioners and analysts… اقرأ المزيد
Maybe there is something in the water in Vienna that makes people act like adults. Whatever it is, the meetings this week in Vienna Thursday and Friday suggest that several significant and positive changes are taking place across several conflict zones and stress points in the Middle East. The Vienna gatherings are so interesting because… اقرأ المزيد
The Arab states of the Gulf remain some of the most novel and fascinating developmental experiences anywhere in the world. Few advances have occurred in the six Arab Gulf Cooperation Council states in the realm of politics and participatory public life, as the countries’ social decision-making traditions rely more on quiet in-family, male-dominated consultations than… اقرأ المزيد
The Middle East today is in bloody and tragic turmoil for many different reasons. One of them is that the five major powers in the region, like the two global powers, are all at war simultaneously. The five regional powers – Turkey, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – are all involved in wars at… اقرأ المزيد
A fascinating political face-off this week will see demonstrations organized by the “You Stink” movement in Downtown Beirut publicly challenging the National Dialogue organized by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. The movement rejects the dialogue as a waste of time. These two poles of the current national contestation reflect different conceptions of political power and how… اقرأ المزيد
Now that President Barack Obama has secured more than enough votes in the U.S. Senate to assure the implementation of the agreement with Iran on nuclear issues and sanctions, we can focus on the lessons learned from the process’ intense political dynamics. These dynamics have affected three relationships: that between the United States and Israel;… اقرأ المزيد