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13th February 2013
A retired US admiral has joined those calling for the Fifth Fleet to pull out of Bahrain.
Dennis Blair, a former chief of the US Pacific Command who also served as Director of National Intelligence in the first Obama administration, complains that American support for democracy and human dignity is… Read more
13th February 2013
"Egypt sinks deeper into junk status," a headline in the Financial Times says after Moody's announcement that it has downgraded the country's bond rating from B2 to B3 with a threat to downgrade it further "depending on the severity of possible adverse developments".
Moody's gives three reasons for… Read more
13th February 2013
What are we to make of Egypt today, on the second anniversary of the people's uprising? Mubarak may be gone but the old, paternalistically authoritarian attitudes linger on under the country's new leaders.
The problem was neatly encapsulated yesterday in reports of a contretemps between Ahmed Fahmy… Read more
10th February 2013
A new round of political dialogue is due to start in Bahrain today amid generally low expectations. The last such talks, in the middle of 2011, collapsed quickly.
However, the Bahraini government has faced growing diplomatic pressure to talk to the opposition and the latest talks may have been… Read more
8th February 2013
In the welter of debate about legalising same-sex marriages in Britain – including ferocious opposition from some religious elements – one fascinating aspect has scarcely been noticed: the attitude of Muslim members of parliament.
Unexpected as it might seem, only ONE of the eight MPs who identify… Read more
7th February 2013
There are many unknowns in the Syrian conflict but perhaps the most important of all is a lack of knowledge about the thoughts and intentions of Bashar al-Assad. Outside Syria, few are better-placed to cast some light on that than Professor David Lesch, who gave a fascinating psychological profile… Read more
5th February 2013
Chatham House, the foreign affairs thinktank, has issued a progress report on Yemen's post-Saleh transition – though I'm not sure "progress" is the right word to describe it.
"With attention focused on the National Dialogue process," it says, "the transition government is paying insufficient… Read more
5th February 2013
The appointment of Prince Muqrin to what is described as the "key" post of Second Deputy Prime Minister in Saudi Arabia has caused a flurry of excitement among riyadologists.
Writing for Al-Monitor, Thomas Lippman notes that Prince Muqrin is "relatively youthful". In fact he's 67 but in Saudi… Read more
3rd February 2013
While waiting in a queue to renew my British passport last week, I was struck by an odd thought. How would I feel if, instead of saying that I am British, the passport described me as "Windsorian"?
"Windsor" is the name of our royal family and calling us all Windsorians would be the equivalent… Read more
2nd February 2013
n 1960 an unfortunate "incident" occurred when a British warship arrived on a ceremonial visit to a foreign country and its band struck up with the wrong national anthem. Anxious to avoid any similar faux pas in future, the Foreign Office wrote to British embassies in all the countries that were… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
