Economics & Egypt’s New Social Contract
Fatma El-Hamidi* | 29 Apr 2011
On April 6, 2011, the president of the World Bank, Robert B. Zoellick, gave a speech entitled “The Middle East and North Africa: A New Social Contract for Development”. Two days later, the IMF Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also gave a speech inspired by the Arab Spring, labeled “Mideast Unrest Shows Need to Consider Bigger Picture,” which...Saleh or Chaos?: Rebalancing the Equation in Yemen
Dana M. Moss and William E.D. Picard* | 21 Apr 2011
At the time of this writing, Yemen’s domestic political situation remains unstable and potentially violent. From the northern city of Sa’dah to the southernmost port of ‘Aden, over 120 civilians have been killed in recent protests. Thousands have been injured by pro-government forces and prevented from reaching hospitals or receiving medical supplies and...Lebanese Politics in the Eyes of Young Sunnis
Francisco Mazzola* | 13 Apr 2011
Lebanon is currently facing the most serious intensification of its political crisis since 2005, when the ‘Cedar Revolution’ brought about an end to Syrian military presence in the country. The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), established in June 2007 to investigate the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, is...Action & Reaction: Women & Politics in Iran
Sanam Vakil* | 5 Apr 2011
Following a decade of peaceful activism and persistent protests against the discriminatory gender policies of the Islamic Republic, Iranian women played a vital part in and around Iran’s June 2009 presidential election. During both the election campaign and post-election protests, women turned out in the hundreds of thousands to vote and to participate in...The Palestine Papers & the Politics of Deceit
Naji Bsisu | 4 Apr 2011
From January 23-26, 2011, Al Jazeera released the Palestine Papers, comprising over 1,600 internal documents from over a decade of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. These accounts, which range in date from 1999 to 2010, contain some of the most significant revelations about concessions Palestinian negotiators have been willing to make to the Israeli government,...Workers Struggle to Find Voice in Post-Mubarak Egypt
Yassin Gaber* | 25 Apr 2011
The 25 January uprising, though ongoing, has accomplished one intangible and perhaps irreversible gain: giving a voice to the voiceless. A close look at the formation of one of the many political parties established...Understanding the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement Against Israel
Sami Hermez* | 15 Apr 2011
In the last few years, Palestinians and the solidarity movements in support of Palestinian rights have been successful in drawing attention to Israel as an apartheid state deserving of the same treatment as apartheid...Latino Muslims in the United States After 9/11: The Triple Bind
Lara N. Dotson-Renta* | 11 Apr 2011
In the nine years since the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, many Westerners have come to view Islam (in all of its modes and refractions) as a religion associated with violence and terrorism, and to speak...Egypt in Limbo: The Counter-Revolution
Yasmin El-Rifae | 4 Apr 2011
Nearly two months after Hosny Mubarak stepped down, the revolution that ousted him has turned into a battle ground. The January 25 Revolution, as it is called, carried the nation to a euphoric high – in its...The Politics of Hunger in Yemen
Leonie Northedge* | 4 Apr 2011
The population of Yemen is one of the most under-nourished in the world. The World Food Programme (WFP) ranks Yemen as the 11th most “food insecure” country. The statistics are shocking: one third of Yemenis...
