Blog archive all
A newly-published report takes a cool-headed and very comprehensive look at the evolution and structure of the Islamic State.
Written by Richard Barrett, who spent nine years with the UN's counterterrorism task force and previously did hush-hush stuff for the British government, it doesn't see a… Read more
A controversial NGO headed by a man who once ran a fake university in Norway is playing a central role in efforts to solve Yemen's political crisis.
The Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), together with Yemen's National Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development (NCHRDD… Read more
At the 2014 Oslo Freedom Forum, activist Iyad El-Baghdadi spoke about the failure of the Arab Spring to produce visible institutional change, how "our generation found its voice, how we lost that voice, how we can regain it and why despite all the catastrophes in the Arab world Arab… Read more
I have been puzzling over the latest Global Gender Gap report from the World Economic Forum (the organisation behind the annual Davos gathering). As might be expected, Arab states are all in the bottom third of the 142 countries surveyed, with Yemen at the very bottom:
113… Read more
A report on migrant domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates, issued by Human Rights Watch earlier this week, tells a story which is all too familiar throughout the Gulf:
"Domestic workers told Human Rights Watch about not being paid, not having rest periods or time off,… Read more
In your book you say the two-state solution for Israel/Palestine is dead and you talk instead about a "non-state solution". You are not really saying there should be no state at all but that discussion about states and boundaries has led nowhere, so a more productive… Read more
The other day I got into a discussion with a friend who works in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE, he told me, is making a useful contribution to the international battle against ISIS – and not just militarily: its government promotes a "moderate" version of Islam and controls religious activity… Read more
One of the less-discussed effects of political turmoil in Yemen over the last few years has been the proliferation of media. Despite widespread illiteracy, Yemen now has around 90 newspapers published weekly or more often and the state's monopoly on broadcasting has been broken; there are several… Read more
In an article posted on the BBC website this morning, Tony Blair calls for a "war of ideas" against religious extremism. There is no doubt that force is needed to confront a group like ISIS, Blair says, but we also have to "uproot the thinking of the extremists, not simply disrupt their actions… Read more
Sir Richard Ottaway: Israel "has made me look a fool". Photo: Dean Calma, IAEA, via Wikimedia Commons
Last night British members of parliament voted overwhelmingly for recognition of "the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel, as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-… 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
