Unwilling to remain on the sidelines in the reform debate in the Middle East for the past two years, Arab governments have asserted themselves against civil society activists and reformists, creating a significant rise in the numbers of Arab prisoners of conscience. The return of security issues to the fore once again in the politics …

It says something that one year after the summer 2006 war, we’re not sure whether to celebrate Hezbollah’s “divine victory or bemoan Israel’s destruction of our country and its economy. That disconnect reflects the larger disconnect between Hezbollah and the rest of Lebanese society. But then the war was such a fount of falsehoods that …

It’s far from an ideal solution but one has to start somewhere. Last month 12 year-old Bodour Shaker died while undergoing a routine cliterodectomy at a private clinic in Minya, in Upper Egypt. Her death led to a new ban on the procedure, forbidding all medical personnel from any involvement. Theoretically, those are two words …

There are some things you just can’t make up. Picture this: a child is acting rowdy in the classroom. The teacher, in an effort to get him to behave, threatens the child that he will not get a chocolate bar until he remedies his behavior. While telling him this, the teacher offers the child a …

Here’s an example of the kind of accountability the CIA needs in order to get out of the doldrums and become a truly effective intelligence service: It is 1985, and the CIA team assigned to stop the TWA 847 hijacking has returned home after an embarrassing failure. Despite a standing order from President Ronald Reagan …

I was, and remain, a supporter of Republican Senator John McCain’s presidential bid. During the difficult days of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, McCain was a reliable advocate of human rights as the guiding agenda for policy in Iraq. This commitment has not subsided. The picture of that great beacon of freedom in Asia, Burmese dissident Aung …

Two dogmas have ruled Israeli policies for decades: “Always deal with only one Arab nation, avoid meeting together with all of them, and “Never allow for a permanent international peace conference because it might push us into corners from which we cannot escape. The result has been a “wait-and-see strategy that assumes that time is …

It is commonplace to say that we live in a globalize world. Less well understood is that globalization is taking place in stages. We are in its second: the Age of Mobility. In its first stage, as flows of capital and goods were liberated, the benefits of globalization flowed primarily to the developed world and …

The organizers of today’s Live Earth concerts hope that the entire world will hear a crystal clear message: climate change is the most critical threat facing the planet. Planned by former US Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth will be the biggest, most mass-marketed show of celebrity activism in history. But making global warming the …

In the bad old days, the boycott that mattered in the Middle East was the Arab boycott of Israel. No longer. Peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, the Oslo accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization and world trade rules have left it a shadow of its former self: at a conference in Damascus last year, …

Hamas’ braggadocio, coupled with its ruthless willingness to eliminate Palestinian rivals, may finally have sealed the movement’s fate. Though the Islamist party now wields sole authority over the impoverished Gaza Strip, its brazen disregard of the law and the sanctity of human life may well bring down catastrophe upon the heads of Ismail Haniyeh and …

Nation-states are built on ethnic and territorial unity, and their histories and political development are grounded in a sense of collective identity. Empires emerge when a national group considers its existence inside its territorial borders either risky or ineffective, and embarks on a forced expansion that is usually connected with large-scale violence. Western Europe found …

The Arab world is witnessing a dangerous head-on confrontation between Islamist parties and organizations and incumbent governments. At the same time secular parties are clearly facing a crisis as they struggle for relevance and, in most cases, for survival. These parties have lost their attraction for voters and have become secondary actors in the political …

How would America react to a future terrorist attack? Would the country come together to combat its adversaries, or would it pull further apart? Perhaps we will never have to confront the question, you say. Perhaps our good luck will hold, or our intelligence will detect all the plots and plotters, or the terrorists will …

After the attack against a Spanish patrol two Sundays ago, Spain’s military began cooperating with Hizbullah in the investigation to determine who had killed its soldiers. This was based on an odd belief that the party is keen to safeguard the United Nations force. On Monday, the Defense Ministry in Madrid announced that the bombing …

“Mubarak resolves the Ashraf Marwan debate: he was a loyal patriot. So claimed the headline of the daily Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper on July 3, referring to the media frenzy that followed the death of Egyptian billionaire Ashraf Marwan who fell off the balcony of his London apartment on June 27. It was only his untimely …

Five years ago, in July 2002, the first permanent international criminal court was established as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force. It was mandated to hold personally accountable perpetrators of such heinous crimes as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. This marked a watershed in the international community’s determination …

On my trip through Europe that has included discussions with a wide range of officials and specialists in Norway, Germany, France and Italy, almost every conversation turns to the question of what role Europe should play in the Middle East today. More and more Europeans seem to feel uneasy that their increased participation in Middle …

June was not a good month for Muslims. To be fair, May wasn’t particularly great, either. In fact, come to think of it, things have been pretty bad since September 11, 2001. There are myriad issues, most of them far too serious to make light of but one of the primary problems concerns image and …

Egypt’s unique relationship with the River Nile was probably best captured by the renowned Greek historian Herodotus who noted, 2500 years ago, that “Egypt is the gift of the Nile . The ‘father of history’ was certainly right. The river gave ancient Egyptians everything: water, food, animals, trade and transportation – in short, the fundamentals …

For those following events in South Lebanon, the deadly attack on Sunday against soldiers of the Spanish contingent of UNIFIL was expected. Among the United Nations troops, it was the Spaniards who had the reputation for most forcefully implementing their mandate. The undermining of UN Security Resolution 1701 has plainly started. However, before we assume …

Iran will continue to enrich uranium regardless of whether a Republican or a Democrat becomes president of the United States in 2009. At the same time, Washington will oppose any Iranian nuclear program – even a civilian program – because this will only contribute to the stability of the regime in Tehran. As a result, …

“Sometimes you just have to let a fire burn. George Shultz, a former secretary of state who was trained as an industrial economist, is said to have made that remark about labor negotiations that have reached an impasse. It applies with ever-greater clarity to Iraq. But how far should we let the Iraqi fire burn, …

At long last, Gordon Brown is taking over from Tony Blair as Britain’s prime minister, thus attaining his life-long ambition, as if by right. That is his first problem. He has not been elected by anyone – not by the Labor Party, and not by Britain’s voters; he has merely come into an inheritance that …

The Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip changed many perceptions and dynamics in the region. But it is also the constants that must be borne in mind by the Olmert government in Israel as it enters into closer cooperation with Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah-led West Bank. First and foremost, Hamas is a dedicated Islamist …

Secular parties independent of governments are experiencing a deep crisis in most Arab countries. The decline affects liberal and socialist-oriented parties alike. While the crisis is real, continued decline is not inevitable: there still exist in the Arab world large potential constituencies that are disenchanted with incumbent regimes but not willing to commit to Islamist …

In response to the formation of an emergency Palestinian government, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that Washington would remove the embargo on international aid for the Palestinian Authority. Rice’s decision appeared to be the start of a “West Bank first policy which aims to strengthen Fatah and weaken Hamas by demonstrating the stark …

CAIRO: Reporters found it difficult to cover the press conference organized this past Wednesday at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum to announce the discovery of Queen Hatshepsut’s mummy. Scores of TV cameramen, reporters and other media staff had to rough it, crowding each other out to listen to the officials’ words and gain access to the two …

When Tony Blair, having procrastinated about his departure almost to the point of unreason, finally gives up the British premiership tomorrow, it will be to the general relief not only of the British public as a whole, but also of the overwhelming majority of his own party. After three terms in office, it could hardly …

Can Kosovo achieve independence without the tacit consent of Russia? And can there be a humanitarian and political solution to the tragedy in Darfur without the active goodwill of China? The two crises have nothing in common, but their resolution will depend in large part on whether these two permanent members of the United Nations …