On 1 September, Lakhdar Brahimi took over from Kofi Annan as UN-Arab League envoy to Syria. His task is not an enviable one, even for such a capable operator. But the new envoy has a few options for ending the Syrian civil war through diplomatic action.
Could the neglected strength of the mainstream Muslim community – a vestige of the Ottoman self-governing ethno-religious millet system – hold Syria together as it did nearly 100 years ago and prevent its dismemberment into a number of mini-states?
The former Information Minister has been apprehended trying to smuggle explosives into Lebanon. Away from the media focus on street clashes, subtler political trends threaten Lebanon's years of building a fragile peace.
For years, Egypt has been frustrated at being sidelined in the regional order. If Iran was surprised at Morsi’s bold statements at the summit, then so were the US and Israel.
Many opposition communities embraced and sponsored the fighters, who represented at that time the local defenders of these communities. But then their goals seemed to change.
Stifling the media can lead to the emergence of robust new media, like those that accelerated the end of some of the most autocratic Arab dictators.
There is a palpable dissatisfaction towards both the Tunisian Government and the National Constitutional Assembly: protests, marches, sit-ins, campaigns etc.
Jordan probably won’t censor its internet. But just the fact that it is still trying is extremely disappointing.
To Orwa Nyrabia and thousands of Syrians who are detained along with our hearts in the cells of the tyrant.
The downfall of Mubarak and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood might be a sign of democracy finally coming to Egypt, but above all it shows how tragically the west has failed to grasp what is going on in the Middle East.
The middle-east’s power-balance is in flux amid state tensions and political conflicts. In a two-part article, Bill Park - who was recently in Ankara and Erbil - examines the impact of these changes on Turkey and its neighbours, especially the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of northern Iraq. In
Despite repeated Egyptian pledges that it will not seek a diplomatic rapprochement with Iran, new political opportunities have arisen on both sides which could render this option much more feasible.
