Recent articles
Yemen needs more than a UN resolution to oust Saleh
Comment Is Free, 17 Oct 2011
As his country faces economic and humanitarian disaster, Yemen's president seems concerned only with retaining power
Al-Jazeera – how Arabic news channel became a key player in global media
The Guardian, 20 Sep 2011
Pioneering TV station credited with aiding Arab spring and opening up political debate in the Middle East
Yemen power struggle: who's who – interactive guide
Guardian Interactive, 19 Sep 2011
As more protesters are killed by security forces we look at the main political figures in the country
Guardian Focus
podcast: What will UN recognition of a Palestinian state mean?
The Guardian, Audio (30min 27sec), 19 Sep 2011
We discuss the implications of Palestinians asking for UN recognition of statehood, with views from the Middle East, the US and Britain
Syria's stalemate raises the spectre of civil war
Comment Is Free, 15 Sep 2011
Assad's opponents are putting pressure on the international community to act in Syria, but who would intervene, and how?
Turkey strides down the Arab street
Comment Is Free, 13 Sep 2011
Turkey is on a roll in the region, as many Arabs admire its political development – but now it will have to start taking sides
Tunisia is leading the way on women's rights in the Middle East
Comment Is Free, 10 Sep 2011
Tunisia is the first country in the region to withdraw reservations
to the UN convention granting equal rights to men and women
Algeria's regime: out on a limb that looks set to fall
Comment Is Free, 30 Aug 2011
By giving the Gaddafi family refuge, Algeria's gerontocracy is putting itself on the wrong side of history
Gaddafi's fall unlikely to alarm Arab leaders
The Guardian, 22 Aug 2011
Assad, Saleh and others will not lose any sleep and are unlikely to draw lessons from the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya
After Gaddafi, let's hope for the best in Libya
Comment Is Free, 22 Aug 2011
Yes, Gaddafi's fall will expose factional rivalries, but Libya is unlikely to turn into another Iraq, let alone Afghanistan
No stalemate in Libya – the writing is on the wall for Gaddafi
Comment Is Free, 15 Aug 2011
A quick exit for the colonel is less important than a well-managed transition, setting the country on course for representative government
Saudi Arabia's message to Syria, decoded
Comment Is Free, 8 Aug 2011
It is Iranian influence, not the killing of civilians, that Saudi Arabia is concerned about as it recalls its ambassador in Syria
Arab governments are failing on human trafficking
Comment Is Free, 28 Jun 2011
The poor record of Middle Eastern countries on trafficking stems from the primacy given to protecting regimes over individuals
Gay Girl in Damascus was an arrogant fantasy
Comment Is Free, 13 Jun 2011
Tom MacMaster's hoax blog undermines, rather than illuminates, awareness of the realities of being gay in the Middle East
Arabs and the long revolution
18 May 2011
A talk at the Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York
Bin Laden's body buried at sea
The Guardian, 2 May 2011
US officials say Osama bin Laden's swift burial complies with Islamic custom, although burial at sea is uncommon for Muslims
God save the Arab kings?
Comment Is Free, 27 Apr 2011
Arab monarchies underpinned by religion have been unscathed by the Middle East uprisings – but they may yet be toppled
The vagueness of the law keeps Middle Eastern protests in check
Comment Is Free, 20 Apr 2011
Virtually all Arab countries allow citizens to demonstrate – but there is always a clause that prevents serious subversion
Twenty things you need to know about Yemen
The Guardian, 5 Apr 2011
All you need to know about Yemen, from its tribal and often bloody politics to its coffee and qat culture
Bahrainis cannot be subdued for ever
Comment Is Free, 17 Mar 2011
Saudi intervention has sectarianised the conflict even more, and thus may well have sealed the Bahrain regime's fate
The Arab spring is brighter than ever
Comment Is Free, 14 Mar 2011
Crackdowns on protest merely postpone the day of reckoning – Arabs now have a shared, unstoppable drive for freedom
Oman's Sultan
Qaboos: a classy despot
Comment Is Free, 4 Mar 2011
He may be a Britain-friendly, music-loving 'renaissance man', but Oman's Sultan Qaboos still tolerates no dissent
Saudi Arabia's subtle protests are serious
Comment Is Free, 1 Mar 2011
Saudis may not be massing on the streets like others in the Middle East, but their petitions and complaints are momentous
Between heaven and earth
Lecture at Cafe Diplo, 21 Feb 2011
Saudi Arabia in the age of globalisation
This week in the Middle East
Comment Is Free, 26 Jan 2011
Protests in Tunisia have sent shock waves across Egypt, Jordan and Yemen, where the appetite for ousting autocrats is strong
This week in the Middle East
Comment Is Free, 19 Jan 2011
Tunisia's God-free uprising and the role of the internet; the growing trend of Saudi spinsters; Yemen's tribal politics
This week in the Middle East
Comment Is Free, 12 Jan 2011
Tweeting about the Tunisian uprising; Iran, Russia, and the shady morals of Putin's tiger, and the price of presidents
This week in the Middle East
Comment Is Free, 30 Dec 2010
Can Tunisian protesters end the 'Arab malaise'? Will Egypt ever catch the people traffickers? What is a woman's life worth?
This week in the Middle East
Comment Is Free, 23 Dec 2010
Charities that fund the settlers; Egypt's vanishing migrants; Christmas extravagance in the Gulf, and an unhappy New Year
From discrimination to death – being gay in Iran
Comment Is Free, 15 Dec 2010
Ahmadinejad caused hilarity when he said gay people don't exist in Iran. But his regime's treatment of them is no joke
Pride and prejudice: The targeting of gay men in Iraq
Near East Quarterly, December 2010
Persian Gulf? Arabian Gulf? One big gulf in understanding
Comment Is Free, 27 Oct 2010
Has the US switched from calling the Persian Gulf 'Arabian' just to annoy Iran? It would seem that way
Death penalty is not the norm in the Middle East
Comment Is Free, 11 Oct 2010
Despite the grotesque cases that occur in Saudi Arabia and Iran, use of the death penalty is not the regional norm
The battle against cyber-jihad
Comment Is Free, 28 Sep 2010
New research suggests closing down extremist Islamic websites is no substitute for directly challenging their religious ideology
Arab regimes' autocratic nature masks their vulnerability
Comment Is Free, 9 Sep 2010
Lack of public debate makes Arab societies less compliant to new laws – and explains the heavy-handed state enforcement
Why taxes are low in the Middle East
Comment Is Free, 23 Aug 2010
High taxes help to build an effective state. That many Middle Eastern countries don't have them tells us much
Conflicting fatwas are good for Muslims
Comment Is Free, 16 Aug 2010
In a blow to Islamic freedom of thought, the Saudi king has ordered that all public fatwas must be approved by himself
Keep anti-terrorism and theology apart
Comment Is Free, 5 Aug 2010
A leaked memo, arguing that the state's anti-terrorism strategy should involve tackling nonviolent Islamism, is wide of the mark
Lebanon and Israel need a proper border agreement
Comment Is Free, 4 Aug 2010
Focusing on a pact to calm border tensions is far better than arguing over who fired the first shot in this week's confrontation
Journalism court threat to Iraqi media
Comment Is Free, 25 Jul 2010
Iraq's proposed new journalism court is a further blow to the country's already oppressed media
The trouble with Twitter
Comment Is Free, 8 Jul 2010
As the sacking of a CNN journalist for a tweet on an ayatollah's death has shown, it's hard to convey nuance in 140 characters
Divorcing fundamentalism
Comment Is Free, 6 Jul 2010
Nasr Abu Zaid was a brave and honest scholar disgracefully persecuted for his attempts to read the Quran historically
Iran's
'blogfather' on trial in Tehran
Comment Is Free, 24 Jun 2010
Hossein Derakhshan, the Iranian blogger and Cif contributor, is accused of producing propaganda against the Islamic regime
Salman
Ahmad, Sufi rocker
Comment Is Free, 20 May 2010
Can extremism be defeated by rock music? Maybe not, but Salman Ahmad's message of tolerance deserves to be heard
Where
next for the Middle East?
Lecture at the American University of Beirut, 9
June, 2010
Not much blog for your buck
Comment Is Free, 25 March 2010
Home Office research has thrown up some blindingly obvious insights into the Muslim blogosphere. Why did they bother?
Fatwa wars aren't the solution
Comment Is Free, 2 March 2010
Minhaj al-Qur'an's grand fatwa against terrorism, though well-meaning, does nothing to help progressive Islam
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's murky world
Comment Is Free, 17 Feb 2010
Details of the Hamas official's murder resemble a movie script, but there's unlikely to
be a neat Hollywood ending
Arab society's crunch points
London Middle East Institute lecture at SOAS, 26 January 2010
Assorted articles
Method in Iran's conspiracy madness
Comment Is Free, 6 Jan 2010
A new list of subversive western organisations is not born solely of paranoia, but does show political naivety
Beware the militant engineers
Comment Is Free, 2 Jan 2010
Is there a connection between the mindset of those who study engineering as a subject, and violent extremism?
Self-righteous agonising over Muslims
Comment Is Free, 7 Dec 2009
In criticising the Islamic world's false 'narrative', an American writer falls victim to another: that US foreign policy is altruistic
With all due respect, Mr President
Comment Is Free, 18 Nov 2009
Barack Obama has talked about 'respect' on his Asian tour, but risks getting into a muddle over its meaning
One year on, blogger languishes in jail
Comment Is Free, 1 Nov 2009
Hossein Derakhshan was arrested in Tehran and 12 months later his family still don't know why
Arab winds of change
Comment Is Free, 22 Oct 2009
Who is driving real change in the Arab countries? Not politicians, but feminists, gay people and bloggers
War crimes in Yemen?
Comment Is Free, 18 Sep 2009
After Gaza, the next task for Judge Goldstone could be Yemen where the government continues to fight a rebellion in the north
Islam's 'enemy within'
Comment Is Free, 24 Aug 2009
Across the Sunni world, growing fear of Shia influence exposes the cultural schism that exists between the two traditions
Hero's homecoming for jailed sheikh
Comment Is Free, 12 Aug 2009
The shameful conviction of Yemeni Sheikh Mohammed al-Moayad during US post-9/11 hysteria has been overturned
Yemen – the next failed state?
Comment Is Free, 27 Jul 2009
Beset by rebels, poverty, crime and corruption, Yemen increasingly looks less like a fragile state than a failed one
Shock of the new media
Comment Is Free, 16 Jul 2009
As Fatah shuts down al-Jazeera in the West Bank, other anxious administrations are cracking down on Middle East media
What Obama will say in Cairo
Comment Is Free, 2 Jun 2009
Changing Arab and Muslim perceptions of the US will be top of Obama's agenda – but don't expect too much on Israel or Iran
Abu Hamza and The Italian Job
Comment Is Free, 29 May 2009
Abu Hamza's sons' botched luxury car scam was the kind of thrill-seeking that led other no-hopers to the cleric's twisted vision
Iran and the west: lessons from history
Comment Is Free, 20 May 2009
Ever since Shah Abbas tried to reach out to Europe, our dealings with Iran have been lost in translation
Afghan-wards Christian soldiers?
Comment Is Free, 6 May 2009
The US military stands accused of breaking its own rules by attempting to convert Afghans to Christianity
Mutual friends: secularism and Islam
Comment Is Free, 14 April 2009
The Middle East will only be convinced by Islamic arguments for a secular state
The killing of Islamic secularism
Comment Is Free, 8 Apr 2009
Debate about the relationship between religion and state has been stifled by history – and the influence of a colonising west
God's own countries?
Comment Is Free, 7 Apr 2009
In the debate about Islamism it's often forgotten that most Middle Eastern regimes claim a special relationship with God
Should faith override the will of the people?
Comment Is Free, 3 Apr 2009
Islamism links the state with religion – this brings it into direct conflict with the principles of democracy
Alienating British Muslims
Comment Is Free, 24 Mar 2009
Labour's actions against the Muslim Council of Britain destroy any credibility its engagement policy might have had
Is exclusion the best policy?
Comment Is Free, 19 Mar 2009
The editor of a Hezbollah newspaper has been denied entry to Britain. It demonstrates the Home Office's confusion on the issue
Warsi wades in
Comment Is Free, 20 Feb 2009
Is there a serious problem with polygamy in the UK, or is the Baroness's attack simply cultural point-scoring?
Unsorted articles
Older articles are placed in their relevant categories.
Those below have not yet been sorted.
A letter to Barack
Comment Is Free, 6 Nov 2008
Please resist the temptation to fix the Middle East, and make sure your own country leads by example
The
leaders that go on and on
Comment Is Free, Aug 19 2008
Musharraf's detractors can console
themselves with the fact that his reign was short – at least by the
standards of the Arab world
Reclaiming
orientalism
Comment Is Free, Jun 19 2008
Orientalism at 30: Research for the sake
of genuine mutual understanding should not be confused with the imperialism
of the Iraq war
Middle
of where?
Comment Is Free, Jun 4 2008
The Middle East may be a crucially
important region politically and economically, but try getting your hands on
a decent definition of it
Scratching
secularism's surface
Comment Is Free, May 1 2008
Today's launch of British Muslims for
Secular Democracy showed the need for a more rigorous debate on religion in
politics
Islamic
Newspeak
Comment Is Free, Feb 26 2008
A new version of the Prophet's sayings
is due to appear - as approved by Turkey's Department of Religious Affairs
Your
flexible friend
Comment Is Free, Feb 22 2008
It's smart, organised and, er, can
squeeze through very small gaps. Let's hear it for the humble cockroach
Is the end in sight?
Comment Is Free, January 11, 2008
It's easy to understand the scepticism over Bush's current intervention in the Middle East, but we shouldn't write off the initiative just yet
A
question of receipts
December 13, 2007
How far has the Policy Exchange report on
extremist literature in British mosques been undermined by the discrepancies
found by Newsnight?
The
globalisation of ideas
December 3, 2007
Ideologies and values are no longer
limited by cultural and geographical boundaries. With time, this should prove
to be a good thing
Gratuitous
violence
Comment Is Free, November 22, 2007
YouTube has a policy against violent
postings. Fine, but what happens when you need to highlight state brutality?
Found
in translation
Comment Is Free, November 21, 2007
A new initiative to translate important
books into Arabic has announced the first 100 titles - and its a pretty good
start
Rubbish
from Riyadh
Comment Is Free, October 30, 2007
A new report says inflammatory texts from
Saudi Arabia can be found in British mosques. If so, they need to be
challenged, not banned.
Satellite
evidence
Comment Is Free, October 25, 2007
Pictures of what could be a nuclear
reactor cast new light on Israel's mysterious bombing of a site in Syria.
A
spoof too far?
Comment Is Free, October 11, 2007
A satirical US attack on a questionable
conference has been taken seriously, a sad reflection on that country's
ability to debate Islam.
Food
for thought
Comment Is Free, October 3, 2007
As preparations are made for Benazir
Bhutto's farewell dinner, there are ample grounds for asking whether she is
fit to hold office in Pakistan.
Required
reading
Comment Is Free, September 6, 2007
A new initiative in the Middle East aims to translate 100 books into Arabic in its first year. Which titles do you think should be included?
US
hate department
Comment Is Free, September 3, 2007
An experienced American diplomat
is facing trial on two charges of racial intimidation
and sending threatening messages.
Another
militant bites the dust
Comment Is Free, August 29, 2007
The burgeoning literary genre of
political/religious recantations has a new, internet-based addition: welcome
to the world of The Islamicist.
Birth
of a myth
Comment Is Free, August 21, 2007
Rumours of the demise of Holocaust
education have been greatly exaggerated, but that
doesn't stop the chain emails flying.
Cheney:
prophet of doom
Comment Is Free, August 16, 2007
A
13-year-old video shows Dubya's right-hand man
opposing - yes, opposing - war in Iraq.
The
wrong kind of surge
Comment Is Free, August 2, 2007
Despite escalating evidence to the contrary, the Bush administration continues
to support the military surge in Iraq.
A
green light to oppression
Comment Is Free, July 31, 2007
In the name of 'fighting extremism', the
US is arming two of the Arab world's leading human rights abusers: Saudi
Arabia and Egypt.
Wish
you were here?
Comment Is Free, July 11, 2007
The main goal of Hizb ut-Tahrir is
to set up a theocracy based on discrimination against
non-Muslims and women.
Family
values
Comment Is Free, June 13, 2007
An 'honour' killing caused shockwaves in Britain but it is part of a wider
social tyranny that has blighted the Middle East.
The
battle for control
Comment Is Free, June 7, 2007
An event last night discussed why some
people dislike the internet. Yet it is not the web itself that they fear, but
what others can do with it.
The
evolution of daft ideas
Comment Is Free, May 29, 2007
Islamic creationism is growing and the
movement is now repackaging ideas from reactionary American Christian groups.
Would
you Adam and Eve it?
Comment Is Free, May 25, 2007
As a new creationism 'museum' opens in
Kentucky I'm still puzzled as to why Darwin is such a problem for Christians
but not Muslims.
The
value of trash TV
Comment Is Free, May 22, 2007
Reality television may be thought of as
lightweight in this country but elsewhere it can be a platform for subversion.
Arabic
under fire
Comment Is Free, May 15, 2007
A child on Hamas TV talked of annihilating
the Jews ... or did she?
Blog and be damned
Comment Is Free, April 11, 2007
Today's argument over the tone of online debate would be familiar to the pamphleteers of 18th-century Britain.
Found
in translation
Comment Is Free, April 4, 2007
Online language tools are a wonderful
development, making Arabic newspapers and other writing on the internet far
more accessible.
Mobile
madness
Comment Is Free, March 14, 2007
Aren't you sick of being forced to listen
to other people's phone conversations?
Land
of the 72 Virgins?
Comment Is Free, March 8, 2007
A certain chain of music stores is
planning to expand across the Middle East. Is this a sign that restrictions
are gradually breaking down in the region?
Wiki
ways
Comment Is Free, February 21, 2007
It contains information on a wide range of useful subjects - but is Wikipedia
just a refuge for the lazy?
The
end of history - or hysteria?
Comment Is Free, January 31, 2007
I am not convinced that Francis Fukuyama
was ever a real neocon - at least, not the wild-eyed variety.
Laughing
down the line
Comment Is Free, January 24, 2007
Now and again, Radio 4 does something
quirky, funny and totally amazing, as one of its current comedy shows attests.
Bring
on Mahatma Brown
Comment Is Free, January 19, 2007
It comes as a relief to learn that our
amply-proportioned chancellor finds inspiration in the work of Mahatma Gandhi.
Soothsayer
of the Year
Comment Is Free, December 29, 2006
It used to be a fair bet that whatever a columnist predicted on January 1
would be long forgotten come December 31. Not any more.
Hundreds
burned alive in Lagos pipeline fire
Guardian, Wednesday December 27 2006
More than 260 people were killed yesterday - burned alive when a ruptured oil
pipeline burst into flames in Lagos.
A
microcosm of Arab malaise
Comment Is Free, December 6, 2006
An article in a Lebanese newspaper
provides an antidote to the simplistic picture of the
Middle East found in some sections of the media.
World's
youth believe 'war on terror' counterproductive
Guardian Unlimited, Monday December 4 2006
Young people overwhelmingly believe the US-led "war on terror" is
not making the world safer, according to a poll conducted in major cities across
the globe.
Resisting
the clash of civilisations
November 22 2006
“Clash of civilisations” is a catchy phrase but also a dangerous myth.
UN
says politics lies behind rift between west and Muslims
Guardian, November 14 2006
Politics - not religion - lies at the root of a growing divide between
Muslim and western societies, according to a report presented to the UN
secretary general, Kofi Annan, yesterday.
Rush
for deal as tests point to genuine nuclear test
Guardian, October 14 2006
The US last night refused to
confirm that North Korea had joined the nuclear club,
despite the discovery of a gas consistent with a
nuclear blast in the atmosphere close to where
Pyongyang claimed it had detonated a device on
Monday.
Not
so polls apart
Comment Is Free, October 11, 2006
Surveys
of Arab opinions show that the clash of civilisation
theory, promoted by Islamists and neoconservatives
alike, is basically hot air.
Condi's top priority
October 6, 2006
The purpose of Condoleezza Rice's visit to the Middle East is becoming clear - to encourage Arab states to form an alliance against Iran.
The cost of improper payments
Comment Is Free, October 4, 2006
Companies often try to shrug off bribes as a way of fitting in with local customs, but the consequences can be serious.
Palaces and prisons
Comment Is Free, October 3, 2006
Condoleezza Rice wants to meet with Middle Eastern moderates - but she's looking in all the wrong places.
Mr
Bush's mirage
Comment Is Free, September 20, 2006
The US president's speech yesterday
highlighted his desire to see only what he wants to see in the Middle East.
The
thinking person's Oscars
Comment Is Free, September 4, 2006
White,
European, male, you could be in line for a Nobel
Prize. So how does its selection process work?
Peace
in our time?
Comment Is Free, August 31, 2006
We
are enjoying the longest period of peace between
nations in more than half a century, apparently.
Peril
British troops face in Afghanistan 'was underplayed'
Guardian, August 31 2006
Britons were probably not aware of
the daunting problems ahead when the government sent
additional troops to Afghanistan this year, the
Ministry of Defence conceded yesterday.
Growing
pains
Comment Is Free, August 29, 2006
Is
the rise of euro-cannabis necessarily a bad thing?
Tongue-tied
Comment Is Free, August 24, 2006
Learning a foreign language helps you to understand other
societies and cultures, and what makes people tick.
Apocalypse
postponed
Comment Is Free, August 22, 2006
So far, so good. Despite predictions that
Iran would launch nuclear war today, the world has not ended quite yet.
Iran's
cyber-president
Comment Is Free, August 14, 2006
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not really get
the point of blogging.
World
to end on August 22
Comment Is Free, August 9, 2006
While the Middle East smoulders,
commentators of an apocalyptic bent are lining up for a date with Armageddon.
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