This month's Arab Reform Bulletin was just released; Oussama Safa, Director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, has an article therein called “How Should the U.S. President Pursue Democratization?”. He bravely puts a positive spin on the admittedly troubling circumstances under which Barack Obama will assume the Presidency: This angry, hostile, and unstable Arab […]
Oil prices dipped to $57 a barrel; OPEC is contemplating another cut in production. Iraq announced a $3.5 billion deal with the Chinese government's oil corporation, CNPC, to develop the Adhab oil field. It's the first such agreement with a foreign country since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in 2003.
According to the third installment in Brookings’ Food, Fuel and Finance series (I love the alliteration!), an interview by Navtej Dhillon with Heba Handoussa, Egypt has the potential to benefit from the global economic downturn provided it plays to its strengths – lots of small businesses, cheap labor, and an economical option for Mediterranean travel. […]
Hizbullah's Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah in a televised address on Tuesday on the occasion of the party's “Martyr's Day” called for settling the much talked about defensive strategy in Lebanon “so that we may know how to build our forces in face of challenges.” He called also for settling the issue of expanding the number […]
Katherine Zoepf goes inside a Saudi jihadi rehabilitation center, observing classes and speaking with men mid-reform-process. The centers receive considerable Saudi coin and also considerable skepticism, American and internal, and this piece outlines some of the arguments for and against.
It's been in the news for a few weeks now, so I’m sure you haven't been able to escape the talk. For those of you who have been solely focused on the current US political situation, and I don't blame you, I have only one word: Syria. Last week, thousands of Syrians congregated in Damascus […]
I realized yesterday [don't ask why so late!] that Lebanese politics are provincial. You have the political figures and their allies, all day long in the media. If Hizballah has al Manar TV, Future movement has Future TV and Future News, AMAL has NBN [an old joke says NBN stands for: Nabih Berri News] and […]
Human rights activists in Saudi just completed a two-day hunger strike protesting the detention of hundreds of prisoners in the Kingdom without charges, especially eleven human rights activists, among them a former judge and former university professors. The hunger strikers abstained from food and drink in their homes to avoid breaking the Saudi law against […]
This is the first time and Iranian president has congratulated an American president-elect since at least the 1979 revolution. Mr. Ahmadinejad of course mentioned his wish list, including de-militarized U.S. foreign policy and justice for Palestine.
Condoleezza Rice leaves today for Israel/Palestine/Egypt/Jordan. Before her departure she took the mike at the Washington DoS briefing, usually run by Sean McCormack, to join the Obama lovefest. She's heading into a hornet's nest: Israel's recent military excursion into Gaza has prompted retaliation. Both sides say they’d prefer to adhere to the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire of […]
The National reports on the oil industry's reaction to the US elections. Excerpt: "The Gulf states will be unaffected by any new US energy policy because of their huge reserves, and their importance is bound to increase as production drops in other regions," Mr Bukhdur said. Hajjaj Bukhdur is an energy expert and economist based […]
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools […]
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