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Last week I noted the publication of the first Arab Knowledge Report and said I would come back with more comments after taking a closer look.
Sadly, my first reaction was one of disappointment. The Arabist blog is right to say the report contains “a lot of turgid… Read more
You've probably heard of the butterfly effect – an idea in chaos theory where some small event, such as a butterfly flapping its wings, can trigger hurricanes, tidal waves and other cataclysms.
In order to avert such crises in the future, Dr Makhboul Rasmi, a scientist at Azhar hospital,… Read more
The first review of my book, What's Really Wrong with the Middle East was published today in the Jordan Times.
Writing in The National, Marc Lynch of George Washington University cautions against slamming the door on democratic currents within Islamist movements.
"Moderate Islamist movements across the Arab world have made a decisive turn towards participation in democratic politics over the last 20… Read more
A journalist who described President Salih as a "weapon of mass destruction" has been given a two-year jail sentence and banned from writing for two years by Yemen's special press court.
Munir al-Mawri, who now lives in the US and was tried in his absence, also questioned the… Read more
Al-Azhar's bold but brief confrontation with the niqab (face veil) seems to have fizzled out, leaving Mohammed Tantawi, the government-appointed Sheikh of al-Azhar, with egg all over his face.
It began early last month when Tantawi asked a female student toremove her niqab, reportedly… Read more
Last week, in an article for Comment Is Free, I pointed out that the "Arab problem" is mostly perceived in terms of undemocratic or dictatorial regimes. I suggested it’s a mistake to approach it in this way and that in order to really understand the problem we have to look beyond the… Read more
The Iranian embassy in Yemen has now given its own versionof the "arms ship" affair (see previous post).
It says the vessel (there is still no disclosure of its size, type or name) normally operates in the Caspian Sea and had gone to Sharjah in the UAE for maintenance. It was… Read more
The sorry state of education in Arab countries is of one of the major barriers to economic development and social change, so the publication of the first Arab Knowledge Report – a joint project by the UNDP and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation – is potentially an important… Read more
In an important ruling yesterday, Kuwait’s constitutional court
decided that female members of parliament are not required to wear the hijab. Although only female two MPs and a government minister are directly affected, the case has much wider implications.
An electoral law… 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
