In The News

Time for the US to Recognize Iraq's Humanitarian Crisis

Roberta Cohen January 11, 2007
Thousands of Iraqis, many moderates and professionals, flee the violence of their nation each month, leaving the armed militias and the poor behind, battling for territory that lacks energy, water and other essential supplies. Before the invasion, the Bush administration had assumed that Iraqis would welcome the removal of a dictator and pursue orderly government. But almost four years later, the...

Hussein Era Secrets May Lie Buried

Solomon Moore January 5, 2007
Investigators continue to seek answers regarding Saddam Hussein’s activities over the years, including hidden graves of his victims, missing government funds that amount to billions of dollars, hidden foreign bank accounts and clandestine support from Western corporations and governments on weapons programs. In controlling Iraq, the former dictator kept many secrets; for example, his own generals...

The Middle East's New Map

Mark Perry January 2, 2007
Humans are fond of categories, and the Middle East has long been subject to such analysis: nations that align with one power or another, nations with wealth or without, nations that function and those that don’t. But boundaries designated by people are not so distinct, argues analyst Mark Perry. Arbitrary lines that created nations of the Middle East in 1919 did not put an end to sectarian...

Iran President Facing Revival of Students’ Ire

Nazila Fathi December 25, 2006
Some Iranian students have decided that their president’s bluster doesn’t provide much in the way of jobs or progress. A similar student movement in 1979 overthrew the Iranian government and introduced control by Islamic clerics. More than 20 years later, protesting students are described as wanting more academic and personal freedoms by journalist Nazila Fathi in “The New York Times.” Students...

Two “Little” Palestinian States?

Abdullah Iskandar December 24, 2006
Politics can be messy when a group of voters depend on outside aid. Palestinians elected members of Hamas during summer of 2006, causing alarm among Western nations that provided much aid to the struggling government. Western governments cut aid since the election and civil strife has increased. So the president of the country, a member of the Fatah and supported by the US, has called for early...

Iraq War Fuels Global Jihad

Fawaz A. Gerges December 21, 2006
Muslims initially condemned Al Qaeda’s 2001 attacks on the US. But then the US invaded Iraq, triggering chaos that could overwhelm more than one country throughout the Middle East. As a result, even more moderate Muslims support anyone who defends Muslim lands and values against occupiers, particularly in Palestine and Iraq. Jihadists emerged during the early 1980s, opposed to Egypt and Israel...

Yet Another Problem in the Middle East

December 20, 2006
Arab society as a whole suffers because of the marginalized status of its women. A series of Arab Human Development Reports, from the United Nations Development Programme, explore the many challenges facing Arab societies. Half the women in Arab society are illiterate along with one third of the men. Concern emerges in Arab societies that Western values draw women away from family roles, and yet...