Middle East & North Africa Archives - Page 203 of 633

The No-Doctrine President

by John Feffer | Apr 12, 2011

Zoologists get pretty excited when they discover an unusual animal. They happily devote many hours to the task of classifying the beast and, if it qualifies as a new species, giving it a name. A great deal of money and prestige rides on these scientific endeavors. The same applies to the political sphere, where new and unusual creatures frequently turn up. When it comes to Barack Obama, however, political zoologists remain undecided whether he is a new kind of political animal and if his foreign policy represents a unique departure from the same old, same old.

Confronting the Urge to Urge on the Libyan Intervention

by Russ Wellen | Apr 11, 2011

Humanitarian intervention, as in Libya, will never work until a time of — gasp! — world government.

The UN and Saudi Women

by Jessica Mack | Apr 11, 2011

As revolutions and reforms sweep the Arab world, Saudi women continue to push for their rights. Inspired by their sisters in Egypt and Tunisia, a national women’s movement called Saudi Women Revolution has coalesced with clear and wide-ranging demands. Chief among them is the ability to participate in the political process, including voting and running for election.

The Days of Anger: Humiliation, Fear and Dignity in the Middle East

by Lieven De Cauter | Apr 8, 2011

It is not only the economy that fuels Arab protests, but justice, honor, and pride.

No Moral Consistency in Obama’s Middle East Policy

by Bonnie Bricker, Adil E. Shamoo | Apr 8, 2011

Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and now Libya. In the last decade the U.S. military has fought Muslims across the Middle East (Iraq and Libya) and South Asia (Afghanistan and Pakistan) for a number of reasons: national security, protection of vital interests such as oil supply, and humanitarian crises. Though our recent foray into Libya can be considered more nuanced than our earlier interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, our poorly defined words and actions have called into question our intent, with a mistrust of U.S. policy becoming a worldwide issue. In Libya, the U.S. lead role in the military intervention has proven that its advertised intentions and actions clash with reality on the ground.

Iraq’s Starving Artists

by Shaun Randol | Apr 7, 2011

The exhibition, “Artists in Exile: Forgotten Iraqi Refugees in Syria,” seeks to bridge cultural gaps between the United States and Arab and Middle Eastern countries.

Is It Palestine’s Turn?

by Samer Araabi | Apr 7, 2011

Contrary to popular opinion, there actually is a pro-Palestinian undercurrent to the recent Middle-Eastern protests.

Libya and the Law of Unintended Consequences

by Conn Hallinan | Apr 6, 2011

Coming to terms with NATO’s intervention in the Libyan civil war is a little like wresting a grizzly bear: big, hairy, and likely to make one pretty uncomfortable no matter where you grab a hold of it. Is it a humanitarian endeavor? A grab for oil resources? Or an election ploy by French President Nicolas Sarkozy?

Strategic Dialogue: Libya War

by Robert Naiman, Ian Williams | Apr 5, 2011

In the second part of our strategic dialogue on the Libya War, Robert Naiman and Ian Williams respond to their initial essays. You can read the original essays here: Naiman’s anti-intervention essay Surprise War for Regime Change in Libya is the Wrong Path and Ian Williams’ pro-intervention essay Armchair Anti-Imperialists and Libya.

Arab Uprisings as a War on Error

by Saif Shahin | Apr 5, 2011

Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, along with their ilk in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and Jordan, are not the only victims of the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East. The flame lit by Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation that fateful morning of December 17 has also engulfed some myths about the region and beyond. Half-truths and untruths that have long masqueraded as reality have been laid bare.