What is happening in Syria now shows the futility of the words we use to conduct international diplomacy...We in Labour must not hide behind a naïve belief that any western intervention is an imperialist plot.
Her Majesty Queen Noor embodies the spirit of generously, kindness and compassion. An American woman, who married the King of Jordan, did not see differences between the people of her new country and herself.
The Syrian shelling of Akcakale -- a Turkish village on the Syrian border -- and Turkey's military response against Syrian targets was shocking. How did the Turkish-Syrian relations go from close-and-getting-closer to on-the-brink-of-war?
The collapse of the Iranian currency by one-third of its value over a week will leave an impact on Iran's nuclear and strategic ambitions -- especially through the gateway of Syria.
To the East of the old city there is a busy road that tanks and other military vehicles often drive along as they travel between the nearest base and whichever suburb they happen to be fighting in on a given day. Recently, a friend saw a tank drive down this road in a convoy with some other vehicles. On its side its crew had had spray-painted, in big white Arabic letters, "Assad! -- or we destroy the country."
America has it in its guts to accomplish a needed inner transformation, to become the seed of a global evolution of our common world, to become a second generation power, an evolved power capable of doing what no other power has done before: sharing power after having reached its peak.
It is widely argued that Russian and Chinese economic and strategic interests embedded in the survival of the Assad's regime have outweighed their humanitarian concerns. The factors behind Chinese and Russian adamant support for the Syrian regime, however, go beyond these common perceptions.
Regardless of the outcome to Syria's civil war, the United States will have no friends in Syria except the Kurds. U.S.-Kurdish rapprochement would serve as a counter-weight to political demagogy and Islamist extremism.
Fully 85 percent of Obama's speech was devoted to political crises across the Muslim world, from ambassador Chris Stevens' death to the Arab uprisings to Syria to Israel-Palestine and Iran, with even a passing sentence about Afghanistan.
If I'm honest, I have to say that, listening to your belligerent rhetoric and watching your violent behaviour, I struggle to recognise the Islam in which you profess to believe. My Islamic faith is based on the principles of peace, moderation and mercy.
In Syria, the time has come to reflect on how to set up the best possible start for a legitimate successor government that will give it the strongest chance for a free, independent and democratic future.
"It is ironic, that they took me there to torture me, in the same place I used to go to school to learn. My father was actually the Principal there. They had taken over the school and made it into a torture centre. It wasn't a proper jail, I learnt later. It was a place they took you to first, before jail. To torture you."
The search for an "exit strategy" has begun for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and perhaps also for the major powers active in the Syrian issue, with most of them having backed themselves into a corner - including Russia as well as the United States.
For many refugees I spoke to, their story about how they left begins with a deciding moment: "my house was destroyed"; "there was so much firing in the street, I could not get to the hospital just 10 minutes away"; "we saw too much killing".
In some basic outline, the paper gives the readers an idea where Kurdistan Region foreign policy is at and where it is heading. It also points out the...
None of the protests have dwelled on American ties to Mubarak. Could it be that Egyptians do recognize American help in launching their Arab Spring? I believe they do and instead have offered the U.S. a second chance to get on the right side of Egyptian history.