Eberhard Rhein is currently senior adviser at the European Policy Center in Brussels. He has devoted most of his life to European and global issues. During the 1980s-1990s, he served successively as chef de cabinet to the Commission vice-president in charge of external relations and director responsible for the Mediterranean and Arab world. Lately, he […]
Features
Iran’s Pyrrhic Victory
The one persistent feature of Iranian foreign policy since the toppling of the Shah in 1979 was its rather grandiose optimism about its own ascendance to a hegemonic role in the Middle East. The ayatollah’s Islamic Republic never considered the revolution it had kidnapped to turn inward. Instead, the leaders of the Islamic Republic of […]
FIFM : And the winner is…The Middle East…
The Middle East issue with its wars, crises, attempts, and death toll has been making the headlines for over 60 years, and last week in Marrakesh, the tragic stories of the Middle East were brought back to minds, if ever they can be forgotten, by the screening of the Attack by Lebanese Ziad Doueiri, during […]
Turkey as a ‘Role Model’ in the MENA Region after the Arab Spring
The Arab revolutions of 2011 have brought into immediate focus the following question related to Turkey’s foreign policy: ‘Can Turkey’s economic and political model become a reference-point for the region’s post-autocratic societies, similar to the EU for east-central Europe after 1989?’. Indeed, many political observers see the revolutions in the Arab countries as a chance […]
Israel-Gaza Truce – Peace until the Next War?
Recently, a truce was mediated – by Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi – between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. But … how long can such a truce last before the new round of warfare is unleashed? Notwithstanding many obvious analogies with the previous tensions between the two sides (such as Operation Cast Lead at the […]
Libyan PM Safe after Attack in Eastern City
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zaidan Tuesday survived an attack by a group of armed men in the city of al-Baida, about 200km east of Benghazi, local media reported. Members of the armed group, reportedly the Ali Hassan Al-Jaber brigade, attacked the building where the Prime Minister was due to hold a meeting with members of […]
Social Media in North Africa: a ‘Double-Edged Weapon’
How important has been the role that social media have played in the Arab Spring uprisings and the subsequent democratic transformation affecting the North African region? This is a question that has been hotly contested in both policy-making and academic circles essentially ever since a Tunisian fruit vendor’s act of self-immolation swiftly wreaked havoc with […]
Marrakech International Film Festival Kicks off 12th edition Friday
The 12th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival kicked off Friday evening in the presence of scores of stars from the four corners of the world. The festival was first held in 2001. The world was still under the shock of the 9/11 attacks and organizing a film festival in such an uncertain environment […]
Post-Arab Spring Tourism Industry: Back in Business
It has been almost two years since the Arab Spring hit the countries of Middle East and North Africa. While some nations have taken a fresh breath of freedom, others have plunged into misery. Day-to-day riots and protests have paralyzed the socio-political functioning of the region, and stifled the tourist industry – the crux of […]
Morocco, France, a continuing wonderful idyll
French President François Hollande will pay early 2013 a visit to Morocco at the invitation of King Mohammed VI. The announcement was made Wednesday in the two countries’ capitals following a telephone call between the two heads of state who both said they were looking forward to meeting each other. President Hollande thanked the king […]