By Mohamed Kerrou | – Kaïs Saïed has won Tunisia’s presidential election. This triumph came at the expense of the two forces that have dominated Tunisia’s political landscape since the 2011 revolution: Islamism and nationalist secular parties. Over the past eight years, these two movements failed to meet the urgent demands of the people, expressed […]
Tunisia Had Successful Democratic Elections, but can the New President face down the Political Elites
By Omar Safi | – The election of Kais Saied, a 61-year-old former law professor and political outsider, to the Tunisian presidency was not surprising: he represents the Tunisian ideal of how the ruling class should be. The size of the vote in his favour was impressive. He won 73% of the vote in the […]
By rejecting stereotypes, Slam and Ramy show us authentic Arab Muslim men on screen
By Sherene Idriss | – There is a long history of damaging stereotypes of Arab and Muslim men on screen. Because of this, audiences from culturally diverse migrant backgrounds understandably crave more positive representations of their ethnic and cultural communities. Two new screen productions – Ramy and Slam – tell stories embracing the complexity of […]
Syria: why the Kurds had little option but to do a deal with Bashar al-Assad
By Cengiz Gunes | – When the Syrian military withdrew from the Kurdish populated regions of Syria in July 2012, they left the Kurds in charge of their homeland, what they call Rojava. Without a backer and surrounded by many hostile states and militia, few people gave the Kurds any chance of survival. Despite the […]
Kurdish Women Fighters helped Defeat ISIL, & now are a Target of Turkish Invasion
By Haidar Khezri | – Kurdish fighters under attack by Turkey have described President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria as a “stab in the back.” Since bombing began on Oct. 9, Turkish military operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces in northern Syria, Washington’s staunchest and most effective allies in the […]
As Turkish troops move in to Syria, the risks are great – including for Turkey itself
By Mehmet Ozalp | – Turkey did not waste much time in launching an attack on Syrian soil just days after US President Donald Trump announced he would withdraw US forces from northern Syria. As this development opens a new chapter in Syria, Turkey maybe unwittingly sinking deeper into that country’s civil war. This is […]
Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for Freeing Ethiopia’s Dissidents, but Challenges still Await
By Mohammed Girma | – Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, has won the Nobel Peace Prize. He becomes the 100th Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the first Ethiopian to receive the accolade. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock Abiy is the 12th winner from Africa to be awarded the prize. Last year it […]
Turkish attack on Syria endangers a remarkable democratic experiment by the Kurds
By James L. Gelvin | – Turkey’s attack on Kurdish-run territory in northern Syria will likely snuff out a radical experiment in self-government that is unlike anything I have seen in more than 30 years studying the Middle East. In a surprise Oct. 6 statement, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw its troops […]
Did Bush put Iraq on Road to Democracy? Not to Judge by the Violent Crackdown on Protesters
By Balsam Mustafa | – When Muhanad Habib, a 22-year-old Iraqi from the Sadr City district of Baghdad, posted on Facebook in late September, he probably didn’t imagine that his demands for a better life and basic rights would be met with bullets. It will be a huge and angry public revolution in Baghdad … […]
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