Reform, security and public order in the Middle East
The security situation facing the Middle East is grave and appears to be trending toward greater violence and instability, says a new report. The states of the region have tended… Read more »
Search Results for: iraq civil society
No easy answer to countering extremism, defeating ISIS ideology
A terrorist attack in Quetta, claimed by militants thought to be seeking inclusion in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as Isis or Daesh, has fueled… Read more »
Muted Modernists? Saudi Islamists ‘campaign for democracy’
The Saudi regime watched the 2011 Arab Spring unfold across the Middle East with deep unease. As the year progressed, the regime responded by rounding up moderate Islamists because of… Read more »
Aleppo: the Sarajevo – and Munich – of Syria?
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, now virtually encircled by the Syrian Army, may prove to be the Sarajevo of Syria. It is already the Munich, Roger Cohen writes for The… Read more »
Pragmatic Engagement Amidst Global Uncertainty: How to Advance Democracy
The outcomes of American interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya during the last fifteen years suggest that in many countries the active promotion of American values, democracy, and human rights… Read more »
Elections highlight ‘Struggle for the Soul of Iran’
Iran has excluded Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the founder of the Islamic republic and a cleric with ties to reformist politicians, from contesting elections to the country’s powerful Assembly of… Read more »
Why social media made but couldn’t save the Arab Spring
Five years ago this week, massive protests toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, marking the height of the Arab Spring. Empowered by access to social media sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook,… Read more »
Forces of change coming to Iran?
Iran‘s president has called on the committee vetting candidates for next month’s parliamentary elections to allow more reformists to stand. In a televised speech, Hassan Rouhani said parliament was… Read more »
‘Iranian Spring’ or hard-liners consolidating power?
Two Iranian poets who face lashings and prison sentences have fled Iran in a rare escape for local artists and activists ensnared in an ongoing crackdown on expression in… Read more »
Let locals take the lead on ISIS
There may be a continuum between the purportedly non-violent Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State, or ISIS. Nevertheless, “it bears repeating that ISIL’s campaign is not fundamentally… Read more »