Osama Al Sharif

2010: a Year of Failings and Frustrations

2010: a Year of Failings and Frustrations

OSAMA AL SHARIF: 2010 has established that the region has failed to learn from its past. Failing to resolve conflicts does not mean that they simply go away.

 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.

 Jonathan Cook

Israel’s War on Jerusalem’s Young Palestinians

Israel’s War on Jerusalem’s Young Palestinians

JONATHAN COOK: The children of East Jerusalem are bearing the brunt of an aggressive Israeli crackdown which has human rights activists up in arms.

 Prince El Hassan bin Talal

Looking Back on ‘the Year that Was’ in the Middle East

Looking Back on ‘the Year that Was’ in the Middle East

HRH PRINCE EL HASSAN BIN TALAL: It was a year which began with much promise and, whisper it, hope around the Middle East. It ends, however, with feelings that are all too familiar…

 David Roberts

Assange’s Personal Dating Profile ‘leaked’

Assange’s Personal Dating Profile ‘leaked’

DAVID ROBERTS: In a bitter if somewhat sweet bout of irony the online dating profile of Julian Assange, the man behind the explosion of Wikileaks, has been posted online.

 Steve Royston

Is Saudi Encouraging its own Brain Drain?

Is Saudi Encouraging its own Brain Drain?

STEVE ROYSTON: Could it be that the next wave of migration will come from the very class of people that Saudi Arabia sees as its future?

 Michael J. Totten

The Poisoned Fruit of Anti – Americanism

The Poisoned Fruit of Anti – Americanism

MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: In Europe the lunatic fringe is going mainstream. Maddening as this is, I really do worry for them. I’m beginning to think something terrible might happen.

 David Westley

The Totally Bonkers $11 Million Christmas Tree

The Totally Bonkers $11 Million Christmas Tree

DAVID WESTLEY: From the same hotel that has given us the gold bar vending machine comes what must be the world’s most expensive Christmas tree.

 Naseem Tarawnah

Questions Raised by IAF’s Jordanian Fatwa

Questions Raised by IAF’s Jordanian Fatwa

NASEEM TARAWNAH: A recently issued fatwa from the Islamic Action Front in Jordan poses interesting questions about the internal turmoil within the Muslim Brotherhood

 Remona Aly

A Novel Approach to Improving the Perception of Islam

A Novel Approach to Improving the Perception of Islam

REMONA ALY: A bold initiative by young Muslim professionals to improve Britons’ view of Islam has sparked much debate. It may also be a template worth copying.

 Shelina Zahra Janmohamed

Sarkozy’s Rabbit Chasing: The Wikileaks Trivia that Fascinates…

Sarkozy’s Rabbit Chasing: The Wikileaks Trivia that Fascinates…

SHELINA ZAHRA JANMOHAMMED: We secretly love the utterly trivial gossip that even diplomats exchange. My favourite? Sarkozy’s rabbit chasing…

 Alice Hackman

A Word Association Game – Yemen?

A Word Association Game – Yemen?

ALICE HACKMAN: Say ‘Yemen’ to most people in the West and the word ‘terrorism’ comes immediately to mind. But yet this beautiful country has a lot to offer.

 Ramzy Baroud

WikiLeaks Indicts, & Vindicates, U.S. Diplomats

WikiLeaks Indicts, & Vindicates, U.S. Diplomats

RAMZY BAROUD: Despite their high number, the documents raise many questions, but answer few. Since more are coming, one must wait and see…

 Osama Al Sharif

Urgent: Fresh Arab Approach towards Iran, Palestine

Urgent: Fresh Arab Approach towards Iran, Palestine

OSAMA AL SHARIF: Focus on Iran or Afghanistan should not be at the expense of the Palestine Question, which remains crucial to peoples of the region.

 James Mullan

Meet Al Qaeda’s Greatest Nemesis – David Letterman!

Meet Al Qaeda’s Greatest Nemesis – David Letterman!

JAMES MULLAN – American propaganda efforts in their so-called ‘War on Terror’ have been superseded by Hollywood. Are we surprised?

 James M. Dorsey

Qatar WC 2022: A Middle East Game Changer?

Qatar WC 2022: A Middle East Game Changer?

JAMES M. DORSEY: So deep-seated is soccer passion that governments would be acting at their own peril and would likely conclude that they have no alternative but to allow their teams to play Israel.

 Jonathan Cook

Wikileaks, The U.S. and the New Global Order

Wikileaks, The U.S. and the New Global Order

JONATHAN COOK: At work here is a set of global forces that the US, in its hubris, believed it could tame in its own interests. By the early ’90s that arrogance manifested itself in the claim of the “end of history…

 Crossroads Arabia

How Saudi Arabia’s Media is tacking Wikileaks

How Saudi Arabia’s Media is tacking Wikileaks

CROSSROADS ARABIA: Saudi media is taking note of the WikiLeaks phenomenon. This piece from Arab News reflects the best and smartest policy that the Saudi government could follow: refuse comment.

 Ramzy Baroud

Lebanon at Stake: Turkey Must Reveal Its Cards

Lebanon at Stake: Turkey Must Reveal Its Cards

RAMZY BAROUD: Promises Turkey will no longer stand idle as children and women are killed no longer suffice. Israel seems unmoved by words…

 Osama Al Sharif

Wikileaks: It’s all about damage control for the U.S.

Wikileaks: It’s all about damage control for the U.S.

OSAMA AL SHARIF: It is not what diplomats do which will change, but the way they do it. In the age of digital information it is proving difficult, almost impossible, to keep anything hidden.