Dissident’s death highlights rise of Saudi ‘mobster state’
A bipartisan group of 20 senators have forced an investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi – a Saudi journalist and U.S. resident who has been missing for more than… Read more »
Category: Middle East/North Africa
Nobel highlights sexual violence as indicator of conflict
In choosing Iraqi Yazidi activist Nadia Murad and gynaecologist Dr. Denis Mukwege as recipients for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has further highlighted the importance… Read more »
In Sisi’s Egypt, ‘no one is secure’
An Egyptian court on Saturday handed down a suspended two-year sentence against Amal Fathy, a female activist convicted of insulting employees at a bank and using abusive language to criticize… Read more »
Iranian actions ‘actively threaten’ Iraqi democracy
The United States announced last month that it intends to keep troops in Syria to support Kurdish-led fighters there until the Islamic State has been completely routed and the area stabilized, notes… Read more »
Time to sanction Iran’s slush fund (and its brutal custodian)
A former presidential candidate in Iran runs a massive business conglomerate that helps Tehran suppress dissent at home and export terror abroad, notes Tzvi Kahn, a Penn Kemble fellow at… Read more »
Escalating domestic and regional tensions threaten Iraq
A wave of demonstrations protesting a lack of public services and government corruption have tested Iraq’s burgeoning government, while regional tensions have reached new heights, the Hudson Institute observes. Making… Read more »
‘Flawed strategy’ failing to counter Islamist extremism
The threat from Islamist militants is growing and the current approach for tackling the threat will fail unless there is a global strategy to tackle the roots of extremism, says… Read more »
Building Pluralistic Inclusive States Post-Arab Spring
The political and social upheaval ignited by the Arab uprisings shows little sign of abating, the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) notes. U.S. and international policymakers continue to struggle… Read more »
Mark 9/11 anniversary with new strategy to prevent spread of extremism
The United States needs a new national security strategy to prevent the spread of extremism in fragile states, say Rep. Lee Hamilton and Gov. Thomas Kean, co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission. They led… Read more »
Algeria’s ‘supportive adversaries’
In Algeria, the prospect of a fifth term for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the presidential election next year has been hovering for months, notes Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck, a Resident Scholar at… Read more »