Added on 17/10/2012
James M. Dorsey
2014 World Cup , Abdullah Saleh , Ali Kafashian , Ali Khamenei , American government , Asian Football Confederation , Ben Ali , Egypt , FIFA , Germany , Hosni Mubarak , Iran , Islamic Republic of Iran , Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , Nasser Hejazi , President , Saudi Arabia , Sepp Blatter , SMS , Soccer , South Korea , Tehran , Tehran’s Azadi Stadium , Tunisia , United Nations , United States , Yemen

JAMES M. DORSEY: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is following in the footsteps of deposed autocrats by associating himself with one of Iran’s greatest passions: soccer.
Added on 07/10/2012
Common Ground News Service
Ben Ali , Civil society , Constituent Assembly , Democracy , President , Tunisia

AKREM KAABI, CGNEWS: There are significant threats to democracy and to hard won freedoms but huge progress has been made.
Added on 01/03/2012
Michael J. Totten
Algeria , Arab Spring , Army , Bashar al-Assad , Ben Ali , Budapest , Cairo , Democracy , East Africa , Eastern Mediterranean , Egypt , Iran , Islam , Islamist party , Lebanon , Libya , Mediterranean , Middle East , North Africa , North Atlantic Treaty Organization , Prague , Prime Minister , Sahara , Sharia Law , Syria , Tripoli , Tunisia , United States

MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: Largely forgotten in the West, Tunisia is where the great movements and ideas of the Arab Spring are fighting a huge battle.
Added on 17/01/2012
James M. Dorsey
2022 World Cup , Africa , Al Mannai , Alcohol , Atlantic coast , Barak Obama , Ben Ali , CBS News , CEO , CEO of Qatar , constitutional law , Doha , East Africa , Emir , Energy , Europe , FIFA , Hamad Bin Khalifa al Thani , Middle East , Mohammed Abdul Wahhab , Noora Al Mannai , North Africa , Olympics 2020 , President , Qatar , Qatar Airways , Qatar University , Saudi Arabia , Tunisia , United States , Zine El Abedine Ben Ali

JAMES M. DORSEY: The debate will determine Qatar’s effort to become a global sports hub, and its positioning as a forward-looking sponsor of change.
Added on 30/12/2011
Juan Cole
Abdullah , Al Qaeda , Algeria , Ali Abdullah Saleh , Ali Khamenei , Arab Spring , Ayman al-Zawahiri , Baath Party in Syria , Bahrain , Balkans , Ben Ali , Binyamin Netanyahu , Bush Administration , David Cameron , Democracy , Egypt , Egypt Protests , Europe , France , G8 , Gaza , George W. Bush , Hamas , Hillary Clinton , Hosni Mubarak , Iran , Iraq , Islam , Israel , Joe Biden , Libya , Manama , Middle East , Middle East Opinions of America , Misrata , Moncef Marzouki , Morocco , Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt , North Atlantic Treaty Organization , Obama , Oil , Palestinian Territories , President , Prime Minister , Saddam Hussein , Saudi Arabia , School of Oriental and African Studies , Social services , Supreme , Suzanne Mubarak , Syria , Syrian National Council , Tahrir Square , Tel Aviv , Tunisia , Turkey , United Arab Emirates , United Kingdom , United States , Washington , West Bank , Western Europe , Western Mountain region , Yemen

JUAN COLE: So much that is misinformed, over-hyped and simply plain wrong has been written about the Arab Spring. So let’s sort the wheat from the chaff.
Added on 25/11/2011
Juan Cole
Avigdor Lieberman , Barack Obama , Ben Ali , Benyamin Netanyahu , Binyamin Netanyahu , Egypt , Egyptian military , Gaza , Hosni Mubarak , Israel , Israeli parliament , John Stuart Mill , King David Hotel , Larry Derfner , Likud Party , Moncef Marzouki , Muslim Brotherhood , Muslim party , President , Prime Minister , Stern Gang , Tahrir Square , The Jerusalem Post , Tunisia , Tunisian government , United States , Washington , West Bank , Western Europe

JUAN COLE: If there’s one person you can count on to mis-read virtually every aspect of developments in the Middle East today it’s Binyamin Netanyahu.
Added on 05/11/2011
James Mullan
Ben Ali , executive director , Iraq , Movies , Omar Sharif , Qatar , Robert de Niro

NEWS ANALYSIS: Legendary American film star, supporter of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, Robert de Niro, is sure events in the Arab world will inspire very interesting film-making.
Added on 24/10/2011
James Mullan
Ben Ali , Democracy , Gaza , Hamas , Islamist , Islamist party , President , Tunisia

NEWS ANALYSIS: With their erstwhile leader rattling around a presumably luxurious villa in Jeddah, Tunisians have had their first shot at genuine democracy.
Added on 16/10/2011
The Moor Next Door
Afghanistan , Ben Ali , Democracy , Eileen Byrne , Iran , Islamist party , Journalist , Progress Party , The Financial Times , The Washington Post , Tunis , Tunisia , Turkey

THE MOOR NEXT DOOR: With a week to go before Tunisia’s national election anticipation is mounting. With more than 100 parties contesting which of them is set to emerge victorious?
Added on 06/10/2011
Common Ground News Service
Ben Ali , Bulgaria , China , Civil society , Democracy , Free media , Georgia , Journalism , Journalist , Media freedom , President , Responsible media , South Africa , Tunisia , Zine el Abidine Ben Ali

MOURAD TEYEB, CGNEWS: ‘With freedom comes responsibility’ goes the saying. The Tunisian media need to start taking their’s seriously.
Added on 12/09/2011
Juan Cole
9/11 , Abdel Bari Atwan , Afghanistan , Al Qaeda , Barack Obama , Ben Ali , Bin Laden , Bush Administration , Cairo , Central Intelligence Agency , Dick Cheney , Donald Rumsfeld , Egypt , George W. Bush , Hosni Mubarak , Iraq , Israel , Journalist , Libya , Martin Luther King Jr. , Middle East , Middle East Opinions of America , Mustafa Abdel Jalil , national government , Northern Pakistan , oil fields , Osama Bin Laden , Pakistan , Palestinian Territories , Pentagon , President , Ronald Reagan , Saudi Arabia , Sayyid Qutb , Tahrir Square , Taliban , Tunisia , United Nations , United States , US government , Washington , Western Europe , Yemen

JUAN COLE: Al Qaeda’s vision for the Arab World has been comprehensively rejected. It appears that Arabs – in particular, young Arabs – are prepared to put their lives on the line, not for a Caliphate, but for parliamentary democracy.
Added on 22/08/2011
Juan Cole
Africa , Al Qaeda , Arab League , Baghdad , Barack Obama , Ben Ali , BP , chess , Egypt , Europe , France , George W. Bush , Hosni Mubarak , India , Iran , John McCain , Lebanon , Libya , McClatchy , Netherlands , Nicolas Sarkozy , North Atlantic Treaty Organization , Obama administration , Oil , oil markets , oil prices , Oil wealth , Pentagon , President , Prime Minister , Robert Gates , Saif al-Islam Qaddafi , Secretary of Defense , Silvio Berlusconi , Spain , Tobruk , Transitional National Council , Tripoli , Tunisia , United Kingdom , United Nations , United Nations Security Council , United States , Western Europe , Western Mountain region , Zine el Abidine Ben Ali

JUAN COLE: It is worthwhile reviewing the myths about the Libyan Revolution that led so many observers to make so many fantastic or just mistaken assertions about it.
Added on 28/06/2011
Juan Cole
Aleppo , Arab League , Bashar al-Assad , Ben Ali , Damascus , Egypt , Facebook , Fatah , Gaza , Hamas , Hizballah , Israel , Khaled Meshaal , Lebanon , Libya , Mubarak , North Atlantic Treaty Organization , Palestine , Palestinian Territories , Qatar , Syria , Syrian government , Tunisia , Turkey

PAUL NOTAR, INFORMED COMMENT: He’s always been a skilful player of ‘the Palestinian Card’ but as the region changes his hold on that particular narrative is no longer exclusive.
Added on 15/06/2011
Common Ground News Service
Ben Ali , Democracy , East Africa , Los Angeles , Middle East , Morocco , North Africa , Omar Offendum , President , rapper , Tunisia

ROSE HACKMAN, CGNEWS: Arabic ‘hip-hop’ with a political twist has been the soundtrack of the revolutions over the past eight months
Added on 06/06/2011
Tabsir
Al Qaeda , Ali Abdullah Saleh , Baseball , BBC , Ben Ali , Mubarak , Pakistan , President , Republican Guard , Saudi Arabia , Syria , The Washington Post , United States , Yemen
DANIEL M. VARISCO: He’s clearly been badly wounded and his confidence in those who surround him must have been rocked but it’s still possible Salih will try to stage a comeback.
Added on 28/05/2011
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed
Advertising , Bahrain , Ben Ali , Democracy , Egypt , Iraq , Jordan , Lebanon , Libya , Middle East , Morocco , Mubarak , Osama Bin Laden , Pakistan , Saudi Arabia , Syria

SHELINA ZAHRA JANMOHAMED: Whether it’s Mubarak, ben Ali or bin Laden it’s clear what sort of leadership Arabs don’t want. It’s far less clear however what they are looking for in their leaders.
Added on 25/05/2011
M.-Lynx-Qualey
Al Masry Al Youm , Ben Ali , Censorship , Democracy , Egypt , Ibrahim Farghali , Khaled al-Berry , Salwa Bakr , Tunisia

M. LYNX-QUALEY: Following a relatively brief lull in censorship activity in Tunisia and Egypt it appears they’re back in business again.
Added on 31/03/2011
Syria News Wire
Bashar al-Assad , Ben Ali , Colonel , Damascus , David Lesch , Democracy , Hafez Al Assad , Iraq , Israel , Josh Landis , Libya , Muammar el-Qaddafi , Mubarak , Obama administration , Patrick Seale , President , Security services , Syria

NEWS FROM SYRIA: Expectation was high in advance of the speech delivered by President Assad yesterday. By the time he had finished speaking I was left with a sense of confusion, anger, depression but most of all disappointment.
Added on 31/03/2011
Omar al-Issawi
Ali Abdullah Saleh , Aref Dalila , Beirut , Ben Ali , Damascus , Egypt , Food and Drink , Hafez Al Assad , Healthcare , Hillary Clinton , Iraq , Kuwait , Libya , London , Middle East , Mubarak , Muslim Brotherhood , Poet , President , Secretary of State , Syria , Syrian government , United States , Yemen

OMAR AL-ISSAWI: It’s a ‘plot’, ‘foreign elements’ are at work, the word ‘conspiracy’ is never far from the lips of Syria’s official spokespeople. We’ve heard it all before – from Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gaddafi and Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Added on 26/03/2011
Omar al-Issawi
Ariel Sharon , Asma , Bashar al-Assad , Ben Ali , Central Intelligence Agency , Colonel , Damascus , Egypt , Envoy , Hafez Al Assad , Hizballah , Israel , Lebanon , Libya , Menachem Begin , Palestinian Territories , President , Prime Minister , Security services , Syria , Tunisia , United States , Yemen

OMAR AL-ISSAWI: He has support among sections of society in Syria but Assad needs to show resolute leadership if he is to avoid his country spinning into turmoil.