Juan Cole

Oil Price Rise means a Happy 2011 in Tehran

Oil Price Rise means a Happy 2011 in Tehran

JUAN COLE: While U.S consumers bemoan oil price rises it’s smiles all round in Iran. The OPEC chair is in no hurry to do anything about spiraling costs.

 Crossroads Arabia

Conspiracies and Prejudice: Getting A Grip

Conspiracies and Prejudice: Getting A Grip

CROSSROADS ARABIA: People owe it to themselves and their fellow men to not feed the animals that inhabit all our inner beings.

 Osama Al Sharif

Religious Strife, a Huge Win for Arab Enemies

Religious Strife, a Huge Win for Arab Enemies

OSAMA AL SHARIF: Christians are not the only victims of sectarian terror: Mosques, shrines, religious parades have been targeted indiscriminately, affecting Sunnis, Shias and other sects…

 Hasni Abidi

Why We Must Speak up for Arab Christians

Why We Must Speak up for Arab Christians

HASNI ABIDI: The spate of recent attacks on Christians throughout the Arab world has thrown into focus the urgent need to defend their contribution across all areas of life.

 Juan Cole

Top 10 Middle East Challenges for U.S. Policy, 2011

Top 10 Middle East Challenges for U.S. Policy, 2011

JUAN COLE: The Obama administration has been successful in tightening the financial noose on Iran during 2010, but Iran could fight back like a cornered rat…

 Ramzy Baroud

Hope in 2011: People and Civil Society Stand Tall

Hope in 2011: People and Civil Society Stand Tall

When the Iraqi army fell before invading US and British troops in 2003, the latter’s mission seemed to be accomplished. But nearly eight years after the start of a war intended to shock and awe a whole population into submission, the Iraqi people continue to stand tall. They have confronted and rejected foreign occupations, held […]

 Bassam Sebti

Christmas Cartoon Urges Iraqis to do it for ThemSelves

Christmas Cartoon Urges Iraqis to do it for ThemSelves

BASSAM SEBTI: The message in the video is powerful, urging Iraqis to stand up and start rebuilding their country themselves, instead of waiting for others…

 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.

 Steve Royston

An Encounter with the True Meaning of Ashura

An Encounter with the True Meaning of Ashura

STEVE ROYSTON – In the two hours I listened, I couldn’t begin to understand the intricacies. But I was struck by the gentle emotion, and parallels to Easter.

 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…

 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 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…

 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.

 Michael J. Totten

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.

 Naseem Tarawnah

Wikileaks, Jordan and the ‘Tentacles of Iran’

Wikileaks, Jordan and the ‘Tentacles of Iran’

NASEEM TARAWNAH: One particular cable is a rather clear reflection of its stance and growing concerns regarding Iran – “Beware the Iranian Tentacles … and Cut Them Off,” reads the summary…

 James M. Dorsey

Saudi’s Succession – ‘Reading Tea Leaves’

Saudi’s Succession – ‘Reading Tea Leaves’

JAMES M. DORSEY: With King Abdullah recuperating in the United States, many of the key players who will play a part in the succession to a new generation have returned to the Kingdom.