First published by European Council on Foreign Relations The word “caliphate” sends many into paroxysms of horrified excitement. Following the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 the opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its Arab calques liked to raise the bogeyman of this […]
Published in Spanish in Vanguardia Dossier, July/Sept 2014 Islamic society and politics in the Middle East are riven by two schisms today that have produced violent instability that is set to continue until a critical moment, such as the fall of a […]
(This was written for the European Council on Foreign Relations, appearing on its website) Almost everyone is happy about the deal reached between United States and Iran. Turkey, which has been drawing close to Tehran of late, is sending its foreign minister there on Monday; Oman […]
(Part of a European Council on Foreign Relations report, ‘The Gulf and Sectarianism’, published November 2013) Sectarianism has long underpinned Saudi Arabia’s domestic and foreign policy, and it has proved to be a particularly effective tool in the government’s management of the Arab […]
The words ‘Sykes-Picot’ must have been bandied around more than at any time since 1916 over the past few months. The sense that the region is in the midst of a reshaping of borders, identities, nationalities has been evolving since the invasion […]
Last year Yemen celebrated 50 years since the republic was established via military coup. Political systems and the distribution of power they involve do not just disappear, they tend to replicate themselves in disguised forms and it would hardly be a surprise […]
By Andrew Hammond DUBAI (Reuters) – A Bahraini civilian court on Tuesday upheld sentences of up to life in prison against leaders of last year’s pro-democracy uprising, a decision that could dim prospects for defusing unrest in the small Gulf Arab state. […]
CAIRO | Mon Aug 27, 2012 12:43pm BST (Reuters) – A leading Bahraini opposition activist said she had been refused entry to Egypt at Cairo airport on Sunday, accusing Arab governments of continuing repressive security cooperation despite political change in the region. […]
DUBAI | Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:00pm BST (Reuters) – Protesters pelted police with petrol bombs and stones in clashes that broke out in Bahrain on Tuesday night at the funeral for a teenage demonstrator killed last week in a new bout […]
DUBAI | Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:40pm BST (Reuters) – A 16-year-old protester was killed after what opposition activists in Bahrain said was a “brutal attack” by security forces, but which the Bahrain government described as a defensive response to a petrol […]