In mid-December 2014, Egypt’s military administration passed a new sweeping law institutionalizing a crackdown on civil society. This law forbids “compromising national unity” or “harming national interest,” i.e. engaging in the criticism of government and advocacy for social justice that ...
Is it ethical for the US to arm Syrian rebel groups in a humanitarian intervention effort to combat the Islamic State? Guest Contributor: Amanda Schmitt “There’s no negotiating with ISIL [and]nothing to negotiate,” asserted Secretary of State John Kerry in ...
Biz Peabody While the parameters reached yesterday qualify only as “an understanding” to what will hopefully become a fully-fledged agreement within the next three months, and while this understanding currently holds for only 15 years, it is remarkable that such ...
At age 12, a visit to the hairdresser marked a rare occasion for Umm Mohammad. “We were all very excited, as each girl had just been given a new, white dress.” And yet, the day didn’t proceed as expected. “Suddenly ...
This piece is the second part of Glimpse’s “Contemporary Geopolitics Series” The last century has seen the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) and the countries that form it repeatedly fall into disarray and instability. Authoritarian regimes led by dictators ...
A former communications technician for the Islamic State (IS) has written an op-ed lamenting his participation in IS and, more importantly, claiming Turkey to be an ally to the terrorist organization. Sherko Omar (his pseudonym for Newsweek) said he became ...
In the 2012 Burmese elections, Aung San Suu Kyi – the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) – won a seat in parliament after spending years under house arrest. Her triumph represented a shift in the power wielded ...
Yemen is a nation under siege. The state is rife with conflict between the Sunni-majority Sana’a government and the Zaydi Shi’a minority insurgency known as the Believing Youth or the Houthis. The group takes its name from military commander and ...
Tunisia will hold parliamentary elections at the end of October. A month later, presidential elections will follow. To see a country in the Middle East preparing to hold democratic elections, particularly in the current climate of regional instability, is nothing ...
Israel and Hamas have held a tenuous cease-fire since August 26th. In the ‘final’ 20 minutes of the conflict my phone buzzed 36 times thanks to Red Alert: Israel, a smartphone app that sends real time notifications to users whenever ...