Posted on Tue, March 22, 2011 at 17:34 pm CET
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WikiLeaks: Yemeni insiders Increasingly Frustrated with Saleh Clan

President Saleh is more interested in enriching his family than in making the strategic choices necessary to lead Yemen into the future… Continue reading

Topics: WikiLeaks • Yemen 
Posted on Tue, March 22, 2011 at 17:01 pm CET
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Building the New Mid-East

Today’s cartoon is from twenty years ago this month! Back then the media and all the pundits explained that as soon as the dust of war… Continue reading

Topics: Islamic Countries • Satire • The Middle East 
Posted on Mon, March 21, 2011 at 23:57 pm CET
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Middle East on Fire: March 21, 2011

Events are happening so fast that I can only summarize, trying to add some analytical depth to each development. So here goes… Continue reading

Topics: Egyptian Revolution • Iranian Protests • Libya War • Syria • The Middle East • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Sun, March 20, 2011 at 16:38 pm CET
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WikiLeaks: U.S. Doubts over Afghan Re-Integration Plan

At President Karzai’s direction, the Afghan Office of the National Security Council has taken on the task of interagency coordination of… Continue reading

Topics: Afghanistan • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Fri, March 18, 2011 at 19:38 pm CET
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Libya Declares Ceasefire after UN Resolution, but Fighting Continues

Muammar Gaddafi’s government says it will end military operations in line with UN resolution but reports of attacks continue… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Britain • France • Libya War • Norway • United Nations 
Posted on Tue, March 15, 2011 at 00:35 am CET
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WikiLeaks: Swiss President Merz Apologizes to Libya for Hannibal Gaddafi Arrest

In a bid to win the freedom of two Swiss citizens who have not been permitted to leave Libya for over a year, Swiss President… Continue reading

Topics: Libya • Switzerland • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Mon, March 14, 2011 at 01:16 am CET
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Iran: Ministry of Intelligence steps up Activities as Opposition Demonstrations Resume

Last Thursday (March 3), Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei held a brief visit to the Ministry of Intelligence headquarters in Tehran. Khamenei visited… Continue reading

Topics: Cyber War • Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center • Iran • Iranian Protests 
Posted on Sun, March 13, 2011 at 01:57 am CET
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Turkey Remains an “Angry Nation” but could still serve as a Democratic Inspiration

Turkey remains an “Angry nation”, tormented by the many ghosts of its history, some of which still lurk in the shadows. Its political system… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Europe • Human Rights • Islamism • Kurdish People • Turkey 
Posted on Sat, March 12, 2011 at 19:31 pm CET
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Arab Political Upheavals: Obsession with Israel Blinded Westerners to the Real Middle East

As we consider the lessons of the dramatic upheavals in Arabic-speaking countries one of the main ones is this: the overriding obsession with… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Arab-Israeli Conflict • Islamic Countries • Islamism • Israeli–Palestinian Conflict • The Middle East 
Posted on Thu, March 10, 2011 at 23:33 pm CET
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Shahbaz Bhatti and the Death of Reason

My time in Pakistan was glorious. I taught bright, beautiful and hopeful students who saw the world not as a series of… Continue reading

Topics: Christianity • Global Islam • Human Rights • Islamic Fundamentalism • Pakistan 
Posted on Thu, March 10, 2011 at 01:49 am CET
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Ending Turkey’s nightmare

The arrest of prominent journalists in Turkey on March 3, among them a recipient of the International Press Institute’s “World Press Freedom Hero” award… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Ergenekon • Islamism • The Media • Turkey 
Posted on Wed, March 9, 2011 at 18:27 pm CET
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Egypt: Women Suffer Assault and Derision at Tahrir March

The romanticism of the Egyptian Revolution meets the reality of Islam dominated society. Read this report by Ali Abdel Mohsen about the Million Women March… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Democracy • Egypt • Egyptian Revolution • Global Islam • Human Rights 
Posted on Mon, March 7, 2011 at 20:27 pm CET
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Arab Liberals Worry About an Islamist Egypt; Western Observers Claim There’s No Threat

while Western observers ridicule the fear of an Islamist Egypt, a lot of Arab writers are very worried. In fact, here are three articles that display such concerns… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Egyptian Revolution • Islamism • Muslim Brotherhood 
Posted on Sun, March 6, 2011 at 21:32 pm CET
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Iran: Growing Criticism as Opposition Leaders Remain Under Arrest

In recent days, there has been growing criticism from the reformist camp over the continuing arrest of reformist opposition leaders… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Human Rights • Iran • Shi'ism 
Posted on Fri, March 4, 2011 at 00:20 am CET
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Iran: Regime Escalates Repression – Where’s the International Reaction?

It is now confirmed that the Iranian government has kidnapped the two leading opposition leaders. This is the most serious single act of repression… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Human Rights • Iran 
Posted on Wed, March 2, 2011 at 18:47 pm CET
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WikiLeaks: Iran Elections, Disarray in Both Conservative and Reformist Camps, Moussavi too Unknown for Many

Iranian analysts in Iran and the UK see no clear trends or emerging patterns in the campaigns of candidates for President in the run… Continue reading

Topics: Britain • Democracy • Iran • Shi'ism • United States of America • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Mon, February 28, 2011 at 17:33 pm CET
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Iran’s Top Opposition Leaders Secretly Jailed, West Fails to Act Again

The disappearance of Iran’s two most prominent opposition figures, Mir-Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, was not mentioned in the… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Human Rights • Iran • Iranian Protests • Islamofascism • Shi'ism • United States of America 
Posted on Sun, February 27, 2011 at 19:47 pm CET
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Iran: Growing Demands to Put Opposition Leaders to Trial

In the past week, there have been growing demands to put the reformist opposition leaders to trial following the reformist opposition demonstrations… Continue reading

Topics: Democracy • Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center • Iran • Iranian Protests • Religious Terrorism • Shi'ism 
Posted on Sun, February 27, 2011 at 17:51 pm CET
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UNHRC: World Praise for Libya 4 Months Ago

Libya is a member of the UN’s top Human Rights Body – the Human Rights Council. The majority of members of the UN General Assembly… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Global Islam • Human Rights • Islamic Countries • Libya • The Middle East • United Nations 
Posted on Sun, February 27, 2011 at 02:54 am CET
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WikiLeaks: Egyptian Society “Radicalized”, “Violence” between Muslims and Copts Regular Occurrence

Wael Aboul Magd told the delegation that “societal violence” between Muslims and Copts is a regular occurrence, but Naga Hamadi had forced Egyptian society to… Continue reading

Topics: Copts • Egypt • Global Islam • Muslim Brotherhood • Sunni Islam • United States of America • WikiLeaks 
Posted on Sat, February 26, 2011 at 15:52 pm CET
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Would Appointing a Turkish Diplomat to Head the OSCE Secretariat Help Anchor Turkey in the West?

Several developments are making Turkey’s role in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) increasingly prominent. The Turkish government… Continue reading

Topics: Armenia • Cyprus • Europe • Greece • Human Rights • Kazakhstan • OSCE • The Media • The Middle East • Turkey 
Posted on Thu, February 24, 2011 at 14:10 pm CET
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Turkey’s Polarized Climate Complicates Efforts to Deal with Past and Present Authoritarianism

In the deeply polarized climate that pervades Turkish society, it has become near-impossible to stake out an ideological terrain that… Continue reading

Topics: Ergenekon • Turkey 
Posted on Thu, February 24, 2011 at 01:26 am CET
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Media and Middle East: Wow, These People are Repressive Dictators! Who Knew?

For those of us who have been trying to talk about Middle East dictators for a long time it is amusing to see how people are lining up to be “horrified” by… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Democracy • Human Rights • Islamic Countries • Islamic Fundamentalism • Libya • The Media • The Middle East 
Posted on Wed, February 23, 2011 at 19:38 pm CET
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Libya and UN’s Human Rights Policy

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for an immediate end to violent repression of Libya protests in a… Continue reading

Topics: Human Rights • International Law • Libya • Libya War • Satire • United Nations 
Posted on Tue, February 22, 2011 at 17:41 pm CET
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Libyan Ambassadors Resign Posts to Protest Bloody Crackdown

The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday Libyan diplomats all over the world resigned from their positions, in protest a bloody crackdown against… Continue reading

Topics: Arab League • Arab Spring • Bangladesh • Democracy • Human Rights • Indonesia • Libya • Libya War • Malaysia • The Middle East