Current Analysis Four More Years The 2012 US presidential election elicited less interest among Palestinians than any such contest in living memory. While most Israelis, and their government in particular, expressed a clear preference for a Republican victory, Palestinians seemed resigned to continuity in US foreign policy irrespec Mouin Rabbani, Chris Toensing • 11 min read
Current Analysis Condi-ist Manifesto In one of the most nonsensical sentences published in the Washington Post since the US invasion of Iraq, and perhaps ever, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice writes in a November 23 op-ed [http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/condoleezza-rice-syria-is-central-to-holding-together-the-middle Sheila Carapico • 2 min read
Current Analysis Blisters and Sanctions It was February 1987, at the front lines near Khorramshahr, in the south of Iran along the Iraqi border. We had been engaged in heavy battles for over a week. Our troops had penetrated fortified Iraqi positions, and the Iraqis were making us pay: Artillery and mortar shells rained down on us with a Shahriar Khateri, Narges Bajoghli • 6 min read
Current Analysis Inside Israel's Twitter War Room Within hours of the onset of Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel’s latest military campaign in the Gaza Strip, global news outlets had already turned their spotlight on social media. A raft of stories led with the Israel Defense Forces’ use of the popular networking platforms to advance their public Rebecca L. Stein • 9 min read
Current Analysis Why Not Jordan? The November 13 withdrawal of fuel and electricity subsidies has sparked vigorous demonstrations [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/13/protests-break-out-in-jordan-mention-king-by-name/] in Jordan, prompting renewed speculation about whether the wave of Arab uprisings that be Pete Moore • 4 min read
Current Analysis Behind the Kurdish Hunger Strike in Turkey To hear Mazlum Tekdağ’s story is enough to understand why 700 Kurdish political prisoners have gone on hunger strike in Turkey. His father was murdered by the state in front of his Diyarbakır pastry shop in 1993, when Mazlum was just nine years old. His uncle Ali was kidnapped by an army-backed deat Jake Hess • 17 min read
Current Analysis Six Questions for Fareed Mohamedi It’s like clockwork: When the race for the White House is on, the contestants will promise to make America self-sufficient in energy. Everyone understands this concept to mean less dependence on imported oil from the Middle East, though politicians do not always come out and say so. The implication Chris Toensing • 6 min read
Current Analysis An Indecent Proposal? Quite a few eyebrows were raised last week when Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, perhaps one of the most infamous “terrorists” in Pakistan, extended an offer of humanitarian aid to the United States in the wake of Hurricane Sandy -- notwithstanding the $10 million bounty [http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/index Darryl Li • 6 min read
Current Analysis The “Matrix” Comes to Libya Within days of the deadly assault on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, the skies over Libya began buzzing [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/us/politics/benghazi-and-arab-spring-rear-up-in-us-campaign.html?_r=0] with American s Steve Niva • 4 min read
Current Analysis Looking for Revolution in Kuwait In the New York Review of Books, Hussein Agha and Robert Malley imagine the results of the Arab revolts as the possible beginning of a reconstitution of the Ottoman Empire. They see the regional unrest as media-driven, with various partisans asserting their own versions of reality to mobilize popula Mary Ann Tétreault • 21 min read
Current Analysis Fissures in Hizballah's Edifice of Control On August 15, Beirut awoke to the news that more than 20 alleged members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had been captured by a group calling itself “the military wing of the al-Miqdad family.” The group had sent footage to the al-Mayadin television network, which was quickly picked up by other local Lara Deeb, Mona Harb • 12 min read
Current Analysis After the Bomb in Beirut As a recent arrival in Beirut, I quickly learned the Lebanese map, geographic and political, when the bomb hit Ashrafiyya on October 19, killing eight and injuring more than 100. A friend in the US e-mailed to ask if the bomb was close, but since I didn’t hear it explode or smell the smoke, gauging Lori Allen • 4 min read
