Beyond their regrettable cost in terms of human lives, "Innocence of Muslims" and the subsequent protests that spread across the Arab world ultimately entrap the world in a binary entrenchment reminiscent of the civilizational justifications for the War on Terror.
The huge demonstration in Barcelona on September 11 – the national day of Catalonia – under the banner of “Catalonia, a State of Europe”, has changed the stakes. Independence would be bad for Catalonia, but it would be even worse for Spain.
This summer, former leading figures in the Afghan Taliban and former mediators met the authors to discuss Taliban ideas for a peace settlement. This RUSI briefing paper affords rare insights into currents of opinion within the Taliban.
An interplay of domestic politics, military pressures and regional tensions means there is an acute danger of war before the United States presidential election.
Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi is a veteran Arab and international diplomat and one of the symbols of the traditional Algerian political structure. As the UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria he is on a near impossible mission.
The only way to turn the tide against the Assadist forces is by both equipping the FSA with heavier weaponry, and providing the FSA with greater support in the form of eventual intervention by aerial and some ground forces.
The Pope may have praised peaceful religious coexistence in Lebanon during his recent visit, but "Innocence of Muslims" and Hezbollah's calls to take to the streets undermine this exceedingly optimistic common conception.
Internationally, we should all be concerned by how the unifying discourse of the 99% occludes important differences amongst political, economic, and socially disaffected peoples that the OWS brand can never fully capture.
Civil society organisations in Catalonia have generated a feel-good and positive project, purging traditional pro-independence of its most strident anti-Spanish elements.
A former fighter who famously laid down his arms in a 2007 amnesty agreement, has been detained by the Palestinian Authority since May. A hunger strike to protest his detention without charge is threatening his life.
In the closing pages of his book, Starr describes a social system constructed on a lack of law and order, which is designed to instil fear. In this current crisis which is also an identity crisis, the author ponders the fate of the Syrian silent majority and the role they have to play.
