middle east: all articles

Debates and articles from across the openDemocracy website that discuss or are relevant to the Middle East
Tuesday 6th October

Turkey's political-emotional transition

Carsten Wieland, 6 October 2009
Ankara is renegotiating its pro-west commitments and its Islamic family-ties
Tuesday 22nd September

Psychoactive and Operation Cast Lead

Lirona Rosenthal, Maya Mukamel, Tova Buksbaum, and Uri Hadar, 22 September 2009
During the attack on Gaza, Israeli mental health professionals could be trapped between Israeli identification with government policy, and Palestinian citizens of Israel, then considered ‘the enemy’
Monday 21st September

Cash flow in the Gaza Strip

Sami Abu Shamalla, 21 September 2009
The military offensive against Gaza was the latest stage in a calculated assault on the feasibility of a Palestinian state, and in particular a viable Palestinian economy
Wednesday 9th September

Libya’s regime at 40: a state of kleptocracy

Fred Halliday, 9 September 2009
Colonel Gaddafi's domain, now opening to the world, is more protection-racket than modern state
Monday 7th September

A response to Badawi

Oliver Ramsbotham, 7 September 2009
To get beyond slogans, each side in the Israel/Palestine debate must have a strong sense of their own collective preferences

and

The state(s) and the right of return

Gershon Baskin
Is a “Jewish State” a “State of the Jewish people”?

Both these pieces are responses to Ahmed Badawi’s “Palestine: seize the initiative”
Thursday 3rd September

Iraq: new alliances, old repression

Zaid Al-Ali, 3 September 2009
The pre-election games avoid Iraqis' real needs - but light in Kurdistan shows the way

On the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state: can the Palestinians seize the initiative?

Ahmed Badawi, 3 September 2009
Time to offer recognition of a Jewish state, but with conditions
Wednesday 2nd September

Iran: Players or Pawns?

2 September 2009

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a man of many labels; Iran's ‘everyman' crusading for the nation's downtrodden, champion of the Muslim world, self-fashioned historian with an amnesic grasp of 20th century events and, most recently, vote rigger of questionable skill. To date however, Ahmadinejad's reputation has not been readily associated with women's rights. His recent decision to nominate three female cabinet ministers has consequently aroused surprise and suspicion in many camps.

Wednesday 26th August

Israeli settlements and “ethnic cleansing”

Martin Shaw, 26 August 2009
A case against the dismantling of Israel's West Bank communities has surprising consequences  
Wednesday 19th August

Living after tragedy: the UN Baghdad bomb, one year on

Gil Loescher, 19 August 2009
openDemocracy's columnist, hit hard by 2003's blast, recalls. Plus: Caspar Henderson & David Hayes on Arthur C Helton, Guy Goodwin-Gill's tribute
Tuesday 18th August

The Arab future: conspiracy vs reality

Hazem Saghieh, 18 August 2009
An embarrassing soap-opera of two presidential daughters sums up the Arab predicament

Israel-Palestine: solving the refugee question

David Gardner, 18 August 2009
A durable peace needs to solve the Palestinian refugee problem. It can be done. Here's how 
Monday 17th August

The Hizbollah project: last war, next war

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, 17 August 2009
How Lebanon's "resistance" movement is preparing for the next and decisive war with Israel
Saturday 15th August

Arthur C Helton: a tribute

David Hayes and Caspar Henderson, 15 August 2009
A voice for human rights, and our friend, died in Baghdad. An openDemocracy salute 
Friday 14th August

Halford Mackinder’s new world

Prince Hassan of Jordan, 14 August 2009
A pioneer of geopolitics anticipates the work of creating peace and security in west Asia's "heartland"
Thursday 13th August

Egypt: the blinkers of expertise

Tarek Osman, 13 August 2009
The tendency of foreign observers to reduce complex Egyptian reality to formulaic description misses some of its most significant and dynamic elements
Wednesday 12th August

Egypt’s border activists: an uphill struggle

Rachae Rudolph, 12 August 2009
Pro-Gaza activists have a small window of opportunity
Tuesday 4th August

Iraqi Kurds assert claims in face of US withdrawal

Anthony Skinner, 4 August 2009
Can regional tensions be accommodated after the withdrawal of US forces in 2011?
Wednesday 29th July

The human cost of war: name before shame

John Sloboda, 29 July 2009
A precise record of the individual victims of war is becoming a key objective of humanitarian work

The WANA vision: regional model for global survival

Prince Hassan of Jordan, 29 July 2009
The multiple crises of west Asia and north Africa require a vision of integrated and inclusive change
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