I have recently been fortunate to conduct several interviews with some very influential and interesting figures, the latest being with the former U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, David J. Dunford. Ambassador Dunford was appointed to Oman in 1992 and served until 1995. He has since retired to Tucson, Arizona, where he is an […]
Lots of stories have been cavorting around my head, with commentary as I see fit: The disaster in the Horn of Africa represents what the Mail & Guardian calls “a crisis in slow motion.” The perfect storm of famine and the political chaos in Somalia has led to a humanitarian nightmare. The west (ie the […]
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing author Joseph Braude speak in New York City. He was interesting and his perspective on the Middle East was unique, and I felt compelled to do an interview with him for my readers. Just to provide some background, Joseph comes from an Iraqi-Jewish family and […]
Quoted directly from John Campbell at his Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa in Transition blog: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has released ten case studies on “Assessing Risks to Stability in Sub-Saharan Africa.” The reports cover Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan and Uganda. The papers, commissioned by the U.S. […]
This week the Syrian Uprising has taken on a newly sectarian character, a disturbing development, and one that could spell a much more violent and unpredictable future for the unstable nation. On Sunday, Homs, Syria’s third largest city, saw the first openly sectarian violence of the now almost five month old unrest. It appears that […]
The crisis in Syria is deepening and the Assad regime is fighting for its life. The rhythm of the revolution is familiar: the state cracks down on demonstrators throughout the week, inevitably committing some new outrage on its citizens; rage builds and explodes on Friday after prayers; repeat as necessary. The state’s crackdown seems more […]
In chess there are several ways a game can end without a victor, none of them particularly satisfying. There is the stalemate, when a player cannot move but is not in check; essentially a locked board. There is the fifty-move rule, which kicks in when fifty successive moves do not result in a capture; no […]
Iran is a land of not only great empires, but also of great traditions and cultures. The traditions that have shaped Iranian culture come from a variety of ethnic groups and cultures, blessing Iran with a longstanding and strong tradition of diversity that continues to date despite efforts by the current Iranian government to suppress […]
In a striking turn of events last week, Greece came to the rescue of Israel by curbing the highly anticipated “Freedom Flotilla II.” The contingency of 350 activists on 10 boats, mostly from the U.S. and Europe, was determined to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. All boats were either intercepted by the Greek coastguard […]
Update: Knesset passes anti-democratic BDS law, with many members absent, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Israel has the most vibrant democracy in the Middle East, with the Knesset (parliament) including representatives from Jews and non-Jews alike. However, once more, extremists in the Knesset are trying to use the democratic process […]
On Tuesday, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, dubbed the most powerful military man in Yemen, opened up to CNN in a lengthy interview. General Mohsen famously defected from the Regime in March 2011, breaking away from President Saleh after 30 years of loyal services. Now a supporter of the Revolution, Ali Mohsen remains however a senior […]
The same day Iraq signed a $365 million agreement to install a pipeline network to import 25 million cubic meters of Iranian natural gas a day to the Sadr, al-Quds and South Baghdad power stations in the Iraqi capital, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hinted to aides that he was considering cutting half of his government’s […]
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