middle east

Debates and articles from across the openDemocracy website that discuss or are relevant to the Middle East
Friday 10th February

Democracy for all? Minority rights and democratisation

Mark Salter, 10 February 2012
The challenge of accommodating and promoting the rights of ethnic, religious and other minorities tends to emerge whenever a formerly authoritarian country begins to move towards democracy. It is faced today as the middle east and north Africa embarks on its own democratic transition. The region could be aided in the endeavour by learning lessons from earlier experience in countries such as Indonesia, says Mark Salter.
Thursday 9th February

The Arab revolts in year two

Volker Perthes, 9 February 2012
The uprisings across the Arab world are becoming more complex and variable as they enter their second year. This makes it all the more important to identify their main dynamics, says Volker Perthes.
Wednesday 8th February

The Left and Israel: a tortured path

Colin Shindler, 8 February 2012
The attitudes of the political left, including left-wing Jews, to Israel have varied greatly across the state's six decades. Loyalties acquired before or independent of Israel's foundation - to the Soviet Union, or to the idea of revolution - have often played a part in shaping them, says Colin Shindler.
Monday 6th February

Tunisia: a year of all dangers

Vicken Cheterian, 6 February 2012
Tunisia is both the pioneer of the Arab spring and its greatest success so far. But even here the political and economic tests are acute, says Vicken Cheterian.
Thursday 2nd February

Attacking Iran: lessons from the Iran-Iraq war

Annie Tracy Samuel, 2 February 2012
Military action against Iran, and even the continuing threat of attack, is likely to give the Islamic Republic a new lease on life
Thursday 26th January

The Iran complex: why history matters

Paul Rogers, 26 January 2012
A sense of enduring history and more recent experience of bitter conflict inform Iran's nuclear stance. To understand this could be a way to avoid war.
Wednesday 25th January

Palestine and the two-state phantom

Ghassan Khatib, 25 January 2012
A combination of political changes and shifts in attitude are making the possibility of a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine increasingly remote, says Ghassan Khatib.
Friday 20th January

Syria: the next Algeria?

Karen Kramer, 20 January 2012
The situation in Syria is becoming increasingly grim. As the standoff between the protesters and the regime turns more violent, the prospects for a democratic transition become more remote.
Thursday 19th January

Tunisia: the power of example

Vidar Helgesen, 19 January 2012
The pioneering role of Tunisia in the Arab awakening is being sustained a year on as it negotiates its democratic transition, says Vidar Helgesen.

Sanctioning Iranian oil

Reyhaneh Noshiravani, 19 January 2012
With increasing geopolitical instability in oil producing states and the barriers that stand in the way of reaching a multilateral policy, the threat of sanctions in Iran only serves to intensify uncertainty surrounding oil price forecasts for 2012

Thinking about war with Iran

Michael Doliner, 19 January 2012
The real Iranian threat is not its nuclear capacity but its independence. If Iran continues to stand as a model of defiance for increasingly poverty-stricken and restless populations of family fiefdoms in the Gulf, the current US-backed setups will either fall or be forced to democratise. These potentially catastrophic losses of empire go a long way to explaining the rising beat of war drums in the region.

Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s bluff and the west’s fears

Richard Rousseau, 19 January 2012
Iranian military action in the Strait of Hormuz is highly unlikely. It would not at all benefit most global and regional powers and would have disastrous consequences for Iran itself.
Tuesday 17th January

Morocco's silent revolution

Valentina Bartolucci, 17 January 2012
Morocco’s experience of the Arab spring of 2011, including constitutional reform and a parliamentary election, exemplifies the country’s political distinctiveness within the region. The events of 2012 will demonstrate how far hopes of real change can be sustained, says Valentina Bartolucci.
Friday 13th January

Europe and democracy-promotion: making good

Jacqueline Hale, 13 January 2012
The Arab uprisings of 2011 are provoking the European Union into a rethink of its approach to encouraging democracy in its neighbourhood. A European Endowment for Democracy with a new kind of mandate could be at the centre, says Jacqueline Hale
Wednesday 11th January

What lies beneath the US-Iran standoff?

Wajahat Qazi, 11 January 2012
The current situation reflects the bizarre politics of the region and the fluid nature of international politics, argues Wajahat Qazi
Thursday 5th January

Iran in the straits?

David Madden, 5 January 2012
How are recent events in Iran to be interpreted? History has a lot to teach us, argues David Madden
Wednesday 28th December

Iraq's political crisis and the shadow of sectarian politics

Rachel Kantz Feder, 28 December 2011
As the US completed its official withdrawal from Iraq, a series of events stoked a political crisis that will push Iraq toward a precipice.
Saturday 24th December

2012, the age of the citizen

Vidar Helgesen, 24 December 2011
The dramatic citizens' uprisings and protests across the world this year are signals of an emerging era that demands a renewal of democracy itself, says Vidar Helgesen.

2011, trepidation and hope

Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie, 24 December 2011
A topsy-turvy year full of dramatic reversals left sub-Saharan Africa still in search of of the balance that would harness good governance to economic progress, says Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie.
Thursday 22nd December

2011, lessons of hubris

Kerem Oktem, 22 December 2011
The Arab uprisings expose the self-delusion of the powerful - from the region itself to Turkey, Germany and the rest of Europe. This is a moment to register and build on, says Kerem Oktem.
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