Columns/Opinions

The startling developments in northern Iraq, where the militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has taken control of Mosul and other cities, highlights several troubling trends that have been evident across much of the Arab World for years. ISIS moved into Mosul and other cities swiftly and without any real combat because these underlying trends …

How it happened and why? The sudden collapse of military units defending Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, the late Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit and the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk is reminiscent of the swift disintegration of Saddam’s army at the gates of Baghdad in 2003. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s sectarian policies backfired dramatically last week when his army quickly …

By Ali Gharib When House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his Republican primary last night, pundits were left asking how his potential departure from Congress would affect GOP moves on policy matters like immigration, where the Virginia Republican had sometimes played a moderating role. But few discussed another policy area where Cantor exerted influence: on Middle East issues, particularly on …

The recent string of “elections” across the Arab world raises profound questions about the Arab world’s apparent difficulty in adopting institutions and practices of liberal pluralistic democracies. But is the problem really about the ability of Arab social values to accommodate democracy, or is there a deeper problem related to the clumsy nature of statehood that has emerged in this …

Can the media cover appalling atrocities and remain neutral and objective??  Media ethics and dilemmas  Is it really possible to be neutral when covering the war zones or reporting conflict and an uprising being ruthlessly put down by a superior force? Can you be neutral when witnessing barrel bombs being dropped from military helicopters on residential areas or when chlorine …

” Your aunt died today ,” says Mom, I replied “it’s ok ” .. When my mom got upset and began to mumble … I noticed, I did not even say , ” God’s mercy on her soul” .. My aunt is not a supporter of “Assad”, and I have always loved her , but maybe if she had died …

By Michel Kilo The Assad regime described the reelection of its president for a third term as “national celebrations.” Traditionally, people take part in festivities for holidays and weddings, delighting in sharing this delight. However, “the national celebrations of Bashar al-Assad” are not a moment of joy, because participation in these celebrations is mandatory and whoever refuses to take part …

The announcement on 13 May by the International Criminal Court prosecutor that she is reopening a ‘preliminary examination’ into alleged British war crimes in Iraq seems to have taken many in the UK by surprise. But it’s less surprising to anyone who has followed the obstructive way UK authorities have handled numerous allegations of detainee abuse in Iraq. The UK …

In 2009, Nigerian police forces fighting Boko Haram in the northern city of Maiduguri lost about 30 officers in a violent firefight. The next day, they executed many of the men they had rounded up and detained as suspected Boko Haram fighters. The retaliatory killings often happened right outside police headquarters in full view of the public. Bodies piled up …

Sergei Lavrov, the foreign affairs minister of the Russia, which leads the “axis of evil” in the world, said that it is inconceivable and illegal to hold elections in Ukraine while a faction of the Ukrainian people, i.e. the Russian-speaking minority, is under an armed threat. Bashar Al-Assad’s criminal regime has killed more than 200,000 Syrians, including 60,000 women and …