Middle East and North Africa Archive
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The Crisis of Governance in Post-war Libya: The Legacy of Colonel Qaddafi
Posted on April 16, 2014In the aftermath of victory in the 2011 Libyan Civil War, the victorious rebels and the transitional government they put into place seemed destined to become an example for the ... -
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Ancient Monarchy and Troubled Democracy: Oman’s Political Realities
Posted on March 23, 2014The Middle East has undergone great upheaval in recent years; a transformation that has changed the political makeup of the region. For many authoritarian regimes the Arab Spring brought their ... -
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Syria: At the Crossroads of Security and Culture
Posted on February 15, 2014Nearly three years of conflict in Syria calls for some reflection. As the Arab Spring reached Syria, Syrians took to the streets to protest President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. Popular protests ... -
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The Egyptian Military: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Posted on January 31, 2014It is curious that not long before the events of 2011, Egyptians shared an expectation that Gamal Mubarak would inherit his father’s role as the country’s President. Although this was ... -
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Could restructuring the federal relations in Iraq create a lasting peace?
Posted on December 29, 2013In my two previous posts, I argued that in situations of insecurity and uncertainty individuals will more intensely identify with one group more than another. I also argued that exclusionary ... -
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Exclusionary regime practices and their impact on post-invasion Iraq
Posted on October 20, 2013Internecine violence continues to embroil Iraq and that violence more often than not is along the fault lines of religious and ethnic groups. In a previous post, I argued that in situations of insecurity ... -
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Crossing the Gulf: The Modern Arabic-Iranian ‘Cold War’
Posted on October 7, 2013The Middle East is a region of great rivalries and divisions. Many struggles have been played out in the battlefields of the region, whilst others take place in the media, ... -
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The Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood: the causes, motivations and implications
Posted on September 23, 2013The Muslim Brotherhood is widely considered the most influential Islamist organization in the world. The organization began as a conservative reformist group that, following a hierarchical Sunni Muslim social movement, ... -
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The origins of Sectarianism in Iraq
Posted on September 17, 2013The internecine conflict that tore through Iraq in 2006-2008 may rekindle in the near future; the inflaming of sectarian tensions is a possibility. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has centralized power ... -
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What are the Possible Legal Frameworks and Norms for an Intervention in Syria?
Posted on September 7, 2013The conflict in Syria has been in a state of constant escalation for two and a half years, with civilian displacement and casualties increasing ever further with no peaceful end ...