The Latest Iranian Distractions
While senior Iranian and US officials are planning bilateral talks [http://backchannel.al-monitor.com/index.php/2014/06/8432/breaking-us-iran-to-hold-bilateral-nuclear-talks-in-geneva/] over Iran’s nuclear research program [http://www.merip.org/mero/mero041614], the Iranian and world media are distrNorth Africans Go Long-Distance Shopping
George Trumbull’s recent blog entry [http://www.merip.org/seven-places-you-didnt-know-were-part-middle-east] about Middle Eastern outposts in other parts of the world rightly mentioned Marseille and the Italian islet of Lampedusa [http://www.merip.org/mer/mer261/lampedusa], with its now closed migraYouth of the Gulf, Youth of Palestine
I recently came across two accounts of Arab youth that fly in the face of conventional wisdom. One is Kristin Diwan’s issue brief on youth activism [http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Breaking_Taboos.pdf] in the Arab Gulf states for the Atlantic Council, and the other is a documentarModernizing Memorial Day
Whoever made the decision to open the National September 11 Memorial Museum just a few days before Memorial Day was both bold and intuitive. The theme of remembrance unites both events, but the 9/11 memorial is a departure because it is dedicated to those so often forgotten in the recollection of naA New Diplomatic Rift Between Jordan and Syria
On May 26, Syria’s ambassador to Jordan, Bahjat Sulayman, received a terse letter from the Jordanian government informing him that he had been declared persona non grata and had 24 hours to leave the country [http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/news/jordan-expels-syrian-ambassador_23887]. The expulsion of