In a little over a decade, Sana’a, Yemen, might become the world’s first capital to run out of water, turning its millions of citizens into water refugees. A major cause: the cultivation of qat, a mild narcotic plant that takes unusually large amounts of water to farm and to which much of Yemen’s population is […]
Arab societies are often regarded as bad places for women and girls. According to many observers, Arabic and Islamic culture can combine to foster attitudes that are inhospitable to gender equality. The results of a survey experiment we are conducting may challenge common assumptions. Women do face special difficulties in Arab lands, which are reflected in […]
The United States is facing the worst of all worlds in the Middle East: interventions that erode Washington’s prestige and popularity but fail to exert enough influence to secure U.S. interests. If Secretary of State John Kerry‘s effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks is to succeed — and if the United States is to secure its […]
Apart from some huge outliers, such as Yum! Brands and Coca-Cola, U.S. business have fallen far behind their competitors in other nations when it comes to tapping into developing markets. Here is how they can make up that lost ground — and shore up the United States’ economic future. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
The rejection by Egyptians of their Islamist government marks a turning point — not only for that country, but for the entire Middle East. Over the course of the past couple weeks, the Egyptian people have made a clear and powerful statement that political Islam cannot and should not be allowed to suppress the broader popular […]
Trying to predict political developments in Iran can be a humbling experience, even for the most seasoned students of Iranian politics. The unexpected electoral victory of centrist Hassan Rouhani serves as a reminder of this stark reality. The Washington Post editorial board boldly proclaimed before the elections that Rouhani “will not be allowed to win”. Read Here – Al […]
When the Black Death exploded in Arabia in the 14th century, killing an estimated third of the population, it spread across the Islamic world via infected religious pilgrims. Today, the Middle East is threatened with a new plague, one eponymously if not ominously named the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV, or MERS for short). Read Here […]
There is no doubt that Mr. Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who has leaked voluminous documents about U.S. programs to monitor communications, has damaged the United States, but not in the ways that he had anticipated. Read Here – Japan Times
As events in Turkey affirm, repression tactics such as threats, arrests, the deployment of riot police, use of gas bombs, rubber bullets and water cannons are combative tactics that escalate conflict rather than subdue protesters. This escalation is marked by an increase in the number of groups and individuals pulled into the conflict and the […]
As Army officers gather the intelligence that may anticipate a Hezbollah attempt to seize power, the possibility of an army coup d’état cannot be ruled out in Lebanon, writes Joseph A. Kechichian Read Here – Gulf News
looking beyond borders 