Politics

Middle East Perspectives – News, Views, Analysis on events in the Middle East and beyond…

The Professor Detention Debate & Twitter’s Embrace

The Professor Detention Debate & Twitter’s Embrace

AHMED AL-OMRAN: The arrest of Mohammed al-Abdulkarim, a Saudi law professor, has unleashed a fierce debate among the Kingdom's social media community, and revealed why Twitter is such a phenomena in the Kingdom. …

Praying for Rain in Jordan, Forecast Not Good…

Praying for Rain in Jordan, Forecast Not Good…

NASEEM TARAWNAH: There's one overriding topic of conversation in Jordan these days - rain or rather its absence. Each day without rain and the prayers are becoming more desperate. …

GCC Cooperation Key to Tomorrow’s Challenges

GCC Cooperation Key to Tomorrow’s Challenges

SULTAN AL QASSEMI: Recently I attempted to capture some of these aspirations. On Twitter, I asked: "What do Gulf citizens want from the summit?"…

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...…

Conspiracies, scepticism and the burden of proof

Conspiracies, scepticism and the burden of proof

HISHAM WYNE: In a world full of conspiracy theories, the use "prove it not" argument needs to be reexamined and sidelined in favour of considerably more rigorous and reasoned debate.…

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... …

An Incredible Journey behind the UAE’s 39th National Day

An Incredible Journey behind the UAE’s 39th National Day

ALEXANDER MCNABB: I have some old video footage of Sheikh Rashid, a man that used to take 5am tours around his city as it was being built, in true Arabian Nights style...…

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.…

What the Wikileaks reveal about the Arab League

What the Wikileaks reveal about the Arab League

MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: The publication of these leaks is eerily reminiscent of the Pentagon Papers, which exposed a decade-long attempt by U.S. officials to distort and conceal unpalatable truths about Vietnam.…

Qatar and Her Neighbours in the Cablegate Releases

Qatar and Her Neighbours in the Cablegate Releases

DAVID ROBERTS: Qatar maintains a close relationship with Iran to safeguard its “trillions of dollars of potential wealth”. Nevertheless, the Head of the Army noted that “we’re neighbours, we’re not friends...”…