sectarian violence Archives - Page 6 of 13

Trouble on the Other Side of the Euphrates

by Daniel DePetris | May 16, 2013

Spurred on by the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi civilians each month this year, and by persistent complains about the government’s poor performance and rising authoritarianism, Iraqi demonstrators are now taking matters into their own hands. With ever louder chants of effective governance from certain sectors of the country, what Iraq may be going through is its own version of the Arab Spring movement—smaller and less universal, but equally empowering to those who are in the middle of it.

The Somaliazation of Syria

by Giorgio Cafiero | Mar 26, 2013

As Syria’s civil war enters its third year, the country’s humanitarian crisis worsens each day and the Levant grows increasingly vulnerable to the conflict’s spillover. Unless a tactical shift in the balance of power occurs, it is unlikely that either the regime or the rebels will gain control of Syria’s entire territory, leaving open the possibility that the state will fragment along sectarian lines.

Way Worse Than a Dumb War: Iraq Ten Years Later

by Phyllis Bennis and Co-signatories | Mar 19, 2013

US troops left behind a devastated, tortured Iraq. Our real obligation, to the people of Iraq and the region and the rest of the world, is to transform our government and our country so that these resource-driven wars, shaped by lies and fought for power and for empire, whether in Iran or somewhere else, can never be waged again.

Postcard from Lebanon

by Alex Potter | Jan 11, 2013

Conversation on the streets of Beirut since the bombing in October has a familiar vocabulary, one reminiscent of 2005 when Rafic Hariri was assassinated.

The Wahhabi War on Indonesia’s Shiites

by Rossie Indira, Andre Vltchek | Dec 5, 2012

Indonesia’s Shi’a minority is under heavy attack. Men, women, and children have been assaulted, schools damaged, and villages burned to the ground. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Saudi Arabia’s intolerant brand of Wahabbi Sunni Islam—propagated far and wide by Saudi oil money—is behind most of assaults.

Harirism Exposed

by Mohammad Aslam | Nov 9, 2012

Saad Hariri—the Saudi-born son of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri—has been on something of a speaking tour lately. The billionaire former prime minister has repeatedly tried to make the case that Lebanon’s incumbent government (read Hezbollah) has put the country in harm’s way because of its stance on the conflict in neighboring Syria. But Hariri may be stoking the sectarian fires himself.

Syria and the Dogs of War

by Conn Hallinan | Sep 27, 2012

“Blood and destruction,” “dreadful objects,” and “pity choked” was the Bard’s searing characterization of what war visits upon the living. It is a description that increasingly parallels the ongoing war in Syria, which is likely to worsen unless the protagonists step back and search for a diplomatic solution to the 17-month-old civil war.

Staunching Syria’s Wounds

by Walden Bello, Richard Javad Heydarian | Sep 24, 2012

Almost 18 months after the onset of popular democratic protests, the Syrian revolution increasingly resembles a bloody marathon with no clear finish line on the horizon. But as Syrian society slowly disintegrates, non-aligned states from the developing world may show the way forward to a diplomatic resolution.

Syria’s Sectarian Echoes in Turkey

by Giorgio Cafiero | Aug 22, 2012

Turkey has become one of Bashar Al-Assad’s main enemies since Erdogan turned on his old friend in response to the Syrian regime’s brutal crackdown on the opposition. But the sectarian character of Syria’s civil war has created tensions within Turkey that complicate the triangular relationship among Ankara, Damascus, and the armed Syrian opposition.

How We Can Replace Defense Jobs

by Miriam Pemberton | Aug 21, 2012

As the post-9-11 wars finally begin to end, we can shrink the Pentagon budget. Here is a three-part strategy for replacing the jobs currently dependent on military production we don’t need.