This week's window on the Middle East - July 10, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, What Algeria 1992 can, and cannot, teach us about Egypt 2013Algeria...
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Qatari foreign policy: a way out
It’s been a bad month. Rather than put money into the central bank in Cairo, why not help subsidise staple foods for Egypt’s poorest, or support relief aid in North Africa? Qatar has had a bad month, a...
View ArticleThis week's window on the Middle East - July 23, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, How did the crises in Egypt snowball?How did the crises in Egypt...
View ArticleThe question of sectarianism in Middle East politics
Everywhere the Arab uprisings have been confronted by the entrenched vested interests of old regimes, the so-called ‘deep state’ in Egypt, and by Islamist populism. The alignment of regional powers,...
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On Al-Jazeera's lopsided coverage of Egypt
Al-Jazeera has not only lost much of its credibility, but the credibility of its main backer and benefactor, Qatar.Since its launch as a 24-hour Arabic satellite news channel in the late 1990s, Qatar's...
View ArticleHas the US decided that the leadership of the Arab world goes to Saudi Arabia?
Qatar’s new Emir swiftly congratulated the interim Egyptian president, Adly Mansour, who was appointed by the Egyptian army. This was in stark contrast to the fatwa issued on July 6, 2013 by Al...
View ArticleTunisia: between a rock and a hard place
Rachid Ghannouchi was in need of both political reassurance (and indeed financial backing) from the Obama Administration that the Ennahdha Party would not go the way of the Muslim Brotherhood in...
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Doha debate reveals gulf between locals, its elite and expatriates
While more and more Qataris seem to be expressing their disapproval or disquiet not only in the Majalis but also in the wider public sphere, it would be naive to speak of further liberalisation of the...
View ArticleThis week's window on the Middle East - September 17, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, Doha debate reveals gulf between locals, its elite and...
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Workers' rights in Qatar
Reform will come, because it is increasingly clear that the system has become untenable.The Guardian newspaper has just released a piece by Nick Cohen tackling the issue of worker’s rights in Qatar, a...
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The birth pangs of Qatar’s art scene
In which the claim by Yes Minister’s Sir Humphrey that, “subsidy is not to be given for what the people want! It is for what the people don't want but ought to have!” resonates in Qatar. One month...
View ArticleThis week's window on the Middle East - October 18, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, Political fault lines threaten Libya's stability.Political fault...
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Qatar in change
The young Emir presides over a bustling city that grows with each passing day, it must be fed, housed and paid for. Growing pains are everywhere, and the spotlight shines fiercely on Doha and the way...
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This week's window on the Middle East - November 20, 2013
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, MENA doctors in trouble.MENA doctors in troubleErdoğan the...
View ArticleGulf states and Iran: don't moan, act
The international deal over Iran reveals the weakness of Arab Gulf diplomacy. It's time for a new approach, says Khaled Hroub.Many politicians in the Arab Gulf countries have a straightforward view of...
View ArticleWhy the US should join forces with the Baathist regime in Syria
The Baathist regime is indeed guilty of great war crimes, but the human cost of a failed state would be a greater catastrophe. Washington should have learnt this lesson from Afghanistan, Somalia and...
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The Arab Spring and the changing balance of global power
From an empirical-analytical point of view, what has happened in the Middle East and North Africa since Mohammed Bouazizi died? This is not an opinion piece, but an assessment of underlying factors...
View ArticleThe slow pace of female empowerment in the Gulf
These oil-rich countries cannot sustain long-term growth and prosperity if half the population remains marginalised and excluded from the workforce. The GCC states should begin to invest in and reform...
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Qatar: FIFA must act
Pressure has mounted on FIFA to address the toll of deaths among migrant workers in Qatar, as the emirate prepares for the World Cup in 2022. As its Executive Committee meets today, the international...
View ArticleThe Persian Gulf: implications of the Saudi-Qatari dispute
The Saudi strategy of offering military support to the US while exporting Muslim militancy and portraying itself as the protector of the two holiest sites in the Islamic world has backfired for both...
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How Qatar's hand casts Syrian shadows
As Qatar assumes an increasing role in the political diplomacy of the Middle East, its subtler interventions in Syria's civil war continue unquestioned.A 2012 demonstration at the front of the Qatar...
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Obama’s strategy beyond an abnormal war
To defeat IS you have not only to beat it militarily, but to undercut the financial and ideological underpinnings upon which it rests, and replace it with something that ensures that it cannot manifest...
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Tripoli airstrikes
These airstrikes demonstrate new fault lines in the Arab world: between Arab conservative regimes, their Islamist foes, and the democratic secular forces who find themselves in an impossible situation....
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This week's window on the Middle East - September 24, 2014
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, Anti-Syrian sentiment in Lebanon.Anti-Syrian sentiment in LebanonOn...
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Qatar: diplomats return but differences remain
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have ambassadors returning to Qatar after a nearly year-long absence, a boost for a Gulf state that could do with positive media coverage.West Bay...
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After the Doha Summit: is GCC reconciliation real?
The 35th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Doha, Qatar appears as a rare and positive momentum in the history of the GCC. However, Qatar's position remains convoluted and reconciliation remains...
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Will Middle East ground troops be rallied against IS ?
Try as we might, the question of Mr. Assad’s fate will not go away: all roads stubbornly lead back to Damascus. Vigil held for the Jordanian pilot in South San Francisco, February, 2015. Steve...
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'Something wicked this way comes': the Arab transitions (part 1)
An excerpt from a NOREF report on the background to the current situation in the Middle East, focusing on the aftermath of the 'Arab Spring'. Part one: North Africa, Egypt and the Gulf.It is currently...
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If ISIS uses chemical weapons, the west will be partly responsible
How can the international community respond effectively and promptly to this growing threat, not just to the Middle East region, but to the world?Security forces simulate chemical attack outside...
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With a more enterprising Russia, cards are reshuffled in the Arab world
A new power structure is emerging in the Middle East as Russia uses its intervention in Syria to position itself as an important partner for regional powers as diverse and opposed to each other as...
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Behind The Saudi-Qatari spat and the fragmentation of the GCC
The sanctions on Qatar aim to force the government of Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to alter its foreign policy – particularly regarding its warming relations with Iran.People buy food at a supermarket in...
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Qatar crisis: a broader consolidation of power
Despite the real tension and rivalries, there is far more that unites Qatar and surrounding countries than what separates them.L-R : Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, US...
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Race to the sea: Qatar and the balance of power in the Middle East
If the Qatari crisis is not managed rationally, then it is likely to compound the present risks in the regional balance of power, with consequences for all states in the region.U.S. Secretary of State...
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Race and exploitation in the Gulf
It is time for the issue of race to become central to any discussion on the continued exploitation of workers in the Gulf.A protest on behalf of migrant workers in Qatar near the FIFA Congress in...
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Kurds’ choices: heed history or the US?
Who controls Syria’s borders? The US and Israel are encouraging Syrian Kurds to fight the regime and its allies for border control. The ensuing mayhem might unravel the Mideast and far beyond.Syria is...
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