Common Ground News Service

Islamic Finance: A New Model for Global System?

Islamic Finance: A New Model for Global System?

MARIA PAZ-LOPEZ, CGNEWS: Following the crisis of confidence in the global financial system there has been much discussion of alternative models

 Tabsir

The ‘New Politics of Sex.’ Really? Looks Like ‘The Old’

The ‘New Politics of Sex.’ Really? Looks Like ‘The Old’

DANIEL M. VARISCO: It’s dogmatic rhetoric and a willingness to conform to imposed tyranny that are the real enemies.

 M.-Lynx-Qualey

Hamlet: Is He The Arab World’s True Hero?

Hamlet: Is He The Arab World’s True Hero?

HUSSEIN OMAR, ARABLIT: Nasser had a ‘Caesar Complex’ but for Egyptians and many other Arabs there’s only one Shakespearean hero.

 Juan Cole

The U.S/Israeli Plan for Iran: It’s Doomed

The U.S/Israeli Plan for Iran: It’s Doomed

JUAN COLE: It’s well worth looking at previous situations where major powers tried to use economics to bring Iran to heel.

 James M. Dorsey

Qatar Alcohol Ban Underlines Internal Tensions

Qatar Alcohol Ban Underlines Internal Tensions

JAMES M. DORSEY: Alcohol has been banned on the Pearl Qatar, dubbed the ‘Arab Riviera’. It’s the latest manifestation of internal discord.

 Mondoweiss

Masterful Obama Delivers Rebuke to Jewish Lobby

Masterful Obama Delivers Rebuke to Jewish Lobby

PHILIP WEISS, MONDOWEISS: A visibly angry Barack Obama, fresh from yet another humiliation at the hand of Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered a stinging rebuke to the Jewish lobby at the AIPAC conference.

 M.-Lynx-Qualey

Novels of the Revolution: What will they look like?

Novels of the Revolution: What will they look like?

M. LYNX-QUALEY: With many of the ‘red lines’ now swept away novelists throughout the Arab world are free to touch on subjects hitherto out of bounds.

 Mondoweiss

Frustration with U.S on Palestine Catalysing More Direct Measures

Frustration with U.S on Palestine Catalysing More Direct Measures

DAVID SCHWARTZMAN, MAI ABDUL, MONDOWEISS: The Middle East peace process is going nowhere fast and interested parties are giving up on the U.S.

 Mondoweiss

Egypt to Usher in Brave New World the U.S. will find harder to Control

Egypt to Usher in Brave New World the U.S. will find harder to Control

PHYLLIS BENNIS, MONDOWEISS: Do the principles on which the U.S. was founded apply to more than 300 million Arabs?

 James M. Dorsey

Money Talks: Qatar’s WC Bid Fits SWF Strategy

Money Talks: Qatar’s WC Bid Fits SWF Strategy

JAMES M. DORSEY: Flush with cash, Qatar spared no cost in its campaign to win the bid the World Cup. But are there ethical questions here?

 Michael J. Totten

Wikileaks: History Lessons for the Stupid

Wikileaks: History Lessons for the Stupid

MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: Surely somewhere there’d be references to a war for oil in Iraq if the war was, in fact, about oil.

 Ramzy Baroud

Obama – Surrendering Palestinian Rights

Obama – Surrendering Palestinian Rights

RAMZY BAROUD: It looks like President Obama will finish his term having secured no advance in Arab-Israeli negotiations. The Israelis do the talking, Washington does the listening. And the giving…