20 Jun 2010

Don’t Rule Out the Activists!

Despite growing repression, democracy activists in the Middle East continue to push for change. As democracy activists working in one of the most repressive regions in the world, we always knew that authoritarianism in our part of the world is a tough nut to crack. Our autocrats have everything a
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28 May 2010

Sadr’s Political Role in Iraq

Shiite frustration with U.S. support in Iraq grew out of a failed uprising in the south following the first Gulf War. Shiites felt a Washington call to mount an insurrection against Saddam Hussein in March 1991 would be met by U.S. military support.They were wrong and the acrimony lingers. Meanwh
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18 May 2010

‘We Want to Reform the System, not Become the Nineteenth Sect’

On Sunday April 25th, some 3,000 to 4,000 people showed up in downtown Beirut for a march demanding an end to sectarianism in Lebanon, carrying banners saying "Civil marriage, not civil war", and shouting slogans such as "Shu tayftak? Ma khassak!" ("What’s your sect? None of your business!") Th
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04 May 2010

Political Shi’ism: from Engaging the State to Replacing it

“The essence behind the survival of nations is [social] justice and [citizen’s] dignity [...] we will start a new chapter in Lebanese history by pursuing the rights of those who are suffering dispossession1.” 1. The birth of Political Shi’ism: Al-Sadr and the dispossessed With these word
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09 Apr 2010

Political Islam and Pragmatic Players

Despite the fact that the term political Islam has been used for many decades, it still often invokes looks of bewilderment, and intrigue, when mentioned in conversation.   The inclusion of the words political and Islam together clearly suggests some sort of the political and Islam working in c
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30 Mar 2010

The Hezbollah Manifesto: Business as Usual for Israel?

On November 30, 2009, Hezbollah announced the release of a new comprehensive ideological and political platform, the 2009 Manifesto. Issued twenty-four years after the 1985 “Open Letter”—the group’s first public ideological document— the Manifesto’s significance lays in the fact that
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14 Feb 2010

Breaking from the Past, Syria’s Economy Moves Forward

With international political relations now warming and a spate of top diplomatic emissaries having graced Damascus over the past 12 months, the Syrian economy is in the nascent stages of breaking out of its isolationist past. Up until 2000, economic practices were directed towards fulfilling nati
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14 Feb 2010

The Good Old Days

United States President Barack Obama's decision to name Robert Ford, as the new ambassador to Syria, to fill a post that has been vacant since 2005 has been warmly received by the Syrians.  Although his appointment still needs senate approval, Ford is considered a strong Arabist at the State Dep
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09 Dec 2009

For Hezbollah, Lebanon is an Afterthought

Two things were unsurprising about Hezbollah’s political document, unveiled on November 30 by the party’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, namely its content and characterization in the media. The document reaffirmed the party’s determination to defend its parallel state while simultane
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16 Nov 2009

The 33-Day War between Israel and Hezbollah

The following section addresses aspects of the rules of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), known as jus in bello, which govern the way each party to an armed conflict must conduct itself in the course of hostilities. It does not address whether Hezbollah was justified in attacking Israel or whe
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