Tag: Middle East & North Africa
132 Articles
- Global Governance
View From Beirut: Failures of the Lebanese Political System
Lebanon is, for lack of a better phrase, a failed state. Living there, I have found this as the most important, yet least understood, fact in attempting to grant Lebanon its…
August 23, 2013
- Conflict & Security
An Optimistic Take on Today’s Israeli-Palestinian Talks
But if there is anything that can be said about the Middle East, it is that even the smallest spark can uproot the conventional order. The desperate act of a fruit-seller in…
August 21, 2013
- Online Archive
Understanding Iran Review
William R. Polk. Understanding Iran: Everything You Need to Know, From Persia to the Islamic Republic, from Cyrus to Ah-madinejad. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. 247 pp. .…
July 26, 2013
- Online Archive
From Tehran to Khartoum: Thirty-Five Years As An American Diplomat Interview with Ambassador Joseph D. Stafford III
GJIA: What has been your favorite part about being a career Foreign Service Officer, and why? Stafford: I think my favorite part has been having the opportunity to live and work…
July 26, 2013
- Online Archive
The Religious Component of the Syrian Conflict: More than Perception
The sectarian divide in Syria is neither a perception nor a secondary point of analysis. It is a reality that is central to the roots of the conflict as well as to why it is…
June 21, 2013
- Online Archive
Iran vs. Its People: Abuses Against Religious Minorities
Iran is a theocracy with a constitution that proclaims the Twelver (Shi’i) Jaafari School of Islam to be the official religion of the country. The head of state, Ayatollah Ali…
June 20, 2013
- Online Archive
The Plight of the Christians in Syria: Flagrant Violations of Christians’ Human Rights
At the advent of the civil war, Christians hoped to remain neutral in the conflict, but as the war progressed, they were singled out as Assad sympathizers and have consequently…
June 17, 2013
- Online Archive
Five Things to Know About the Protests in Turkey
1. The protests are not just about a park For the original environmentalist protestors, the planned destruction of Gezi Park to make way for a replica of an Ottoman military…
June 13, 2013
- Online Archive
The Global Online Freedom Act
The wide diffusion of the Internet in developed and developing nations has made it a key medium for political debate and activism. Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter,…
May 16, 2013
- Online Archive
The Turkish-Kurdish Peace Progress
During the summer and fall of 2009, the continuing and often violent Kurdish problem in Turkey seemed on the verge of a solution when the ruling Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi …
May 16, 2013