Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: the outburst of violence in Tripoli, Lebanon and its socio-economic roots.
Kidney transplant patient Roseline Akhalu was detained by the UK immigration authorities for the second time on Wednesday 16 May and is at risk of deportation to Nigeria where, doctors warn, she will die if she cannot afford medical care. This is Roseline’s account of her first detention in March
A more important root to the current violence is the poverty blighting these communities. It is no secret that Tripoli is neglected in terms of investment, education, public services and employment.
Will the Presidential elections, the first round of which commence on 23 May, bring the generals another Mubarak?
For these young Libyans, to register and participate in the elections means acknowledging that their voices are no more important than anyone else’s.
Turkey’s criticism of Syria has provoked stern opposition from the Nusayris of Turkey, sharing the same ancestry with their counterparts in Syria, who mostly live in Antioch, home to thousands of Syrian refugees.
What never ceases to amaze me is Dubai’s resilience. Back in 2009, building projects had visibly ground to a halt. People were leaving. Debts were mounting.
In the aftermath of the revolution, many Libyans are confronted with significant bureaucratic hurdles. Unable to travel freely, procure a passport, and secure necessary paperwork.
While the UGTT often prides itself on having played a prominent role in the unfolding of the mass protests which eventually led to the ouster of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14 2011, the picture is more blurred when it comes to what links the union‘s executive leadership actually entertained
The NPT PrepCom Review in Vienna closed by underlining the majority view that “any use or threat of use of nuclear weapons would be inconsistent with fundamental rules of international humanitarian law". In her final report from the NPT Rebecca Johnson says that the next few years may see some fun
A powerful new political movement bringing rural and urban Colombian civil society onto a common platform poses the real possibility for sustainable peacebuilding in Colombia. The reaction of the government to its emergence will be a path-setting moment.
This interview conducted at the Kennedy School in Boston was first published in Juncture, the new international journal of the Institute for Public Policy Research.
