Tying the “virtual embassy” in Iran with sanctions won’t help #virtualembassy trend on Iranian Twitter accounts.
Few Virtues to “Virtual Embassy in Iran”
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Middle East & North Africa
The Amilcar Notes (Part 6): Tunisia — U.S. Recognizes Need to Change Its Mid-East Policy
Its policy toward Tunisia shows that the United States has finally realized — perhaps too late – how much damage it’s done in the Middle East.
Succession Questions Persist in Wake of Kim Jong-il’s Death
Kim Jong-il reportedly kept his son Kim Jong-un on the sidelines for fear of a challenge to his authority.
Israel’s Tax-Deductible Occupation
The new Likud-Yisrael Beitenu NGO funding legislation will limit and tax contributions to organizations opposed to the occupation. Meanwhile, pro-settlement charities rake in large sums from foreign donors.
The Amilcar Notes (Part 5):Election Exhilaration in Tunisia
Those who took to the streets in Tunisia and faced down fear are not those elected to the Constituent Assembly.
What If an Iranian Spy Plane Had Violated U.S. Airspace?
The United States asking for its drone back is like a burglar breaking into someone’s house, stealing a few items, and then returning the next day to ask for his tools back.
Arab Islamists Are Here to Stay
The hysteria of the West about the Arab awakening turning into an Arab Islamist nightmare is reaching full-blown proportions. The United States and Israel, self-appointed referees of democracy in the region despite their long-running support for the Middle East’s most corrupt and authoritarian regimes, are crying foul.
The incitement? A series of victories by Islamist parties in Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt. Yet, given the history of Western support for governments that simultaneously quashed secular opposition movements and persecuted Islamists, the popularity of moderate Islamist parties should come as little surprise—nor should it be cause for concern.
The Amilcar Notes (Part 4): Tunisia — Profoundly Islamic
Tunisia’s militant youth, whose courage brought down President Ben Ali, has been replaced by politicians talking about both free market capitalism and the Koran.
Review: Zahra’s Paradise
A full year and a half before a popular uprising in Tunisia jolted the Arab world, a dramatic and still unfinished prelude was playing out in Iran’s Green Revolution. The enormous demonstrations against the apparently fraudulent reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – and the vicious crackdown subsequently unleashed by the country’s Supreme Leader – definitively severed, in the eyes of the world, the aspirations of Iran’s people from those of the thugs-cum-theocrats who had, until then, monopolized the country’s representation on the world stage.
Iran Digs in With Its Uranium Enrichment Facilities
Moving its uranium enrichment facilities underground does not mean that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.