UNITED NATIONS – Imagine giving birth in a refugee camp after you fled the brutal repression of an Islamic group or while missiles are being dropped a few meters away. You will then understand how war and forced displacement in the Middle East are taking a heavy toll on pregnant women. As humanitarian crisis grew […]
Columns
IS threat coming to Morocco
Morocco should be advising the West right now on how to go about breaking IS while we all wait for its appalling acts of terror to come to the Maghreb The news which has even reached as far as Lebanon that Morocco is cracking down on its extremists who, despite doing the kingdom a great […]
Middle Eastern Conflicts and Ebola Outbreak Hamper UN Development Goals
UNITED NATIONS – “The current crisis in South Sudan, Iraq, and Syria and the outbreak of Ebola are stretching the abilities of the United Nations,” said Bettina Leuscher, Chief Spokesperson of the World Food Program (WFP) on September 21st in a panel discussion organized by the United Nations Foundation in New York. In less than […]
A New Moroccan Party is Born, Will it Redesign the Political Landscape?
The Neo-Democrats is the name of a new Moroccan political party that held its constituent assembly over the weekend amidst questions about the timeliness and usefulness of the move given the excessive number of political parties- thirty three according to 2013 figures- in a country with a population of some 35 million soul. While many […]
Islamic law and human rights: do they mix? (part II)
Muslim jurists can interpret Islamic law in a way that is consistent with international human rights law. Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have raised concern over the impact of a conservative interpretation of the Sharia (i.e. Islamic law). The jihadist group, which grew out of Al Qaeda in Iraq, proclaims itself […]
Brazil’s President No Longer a Shoo-In After the Recession
Sluggish growth in Latin America’s largest economy is a blow to incumbent Dilma Rousseff.
Israel is winning the war in Gaza as Western and Arab media succumb to its latest weapon: the perceived truth
When Tony Blair was photographed recently with the new Egyptian president Mr Sisi, many of us in the press gallery wondered if we were witnessing a new dawn of Arabic leaders embracing bold new media skills. You might have pondered in recent days how it is that the whole world seems to accept Israel’s bombardment […]
What the Fall of Mosul Means for the Kurds?
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) sees new opportunities in the mayhem prevailing in Iraq. The fall of Mosul on June 10 to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) propelled a humiliating retreat of the US-equipped Iraqi army from several key cities north of Baghdad including Baiji, home to the Iraq’s largest oil refinery […]
How Maliki Created Propitious Conditions for the Unraveling of Iraq
With the spectacular fall of Mosul to the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham (ISIS) and the humiliating retreat of the US-equipped Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), Iraq’s future as a unified state hangs in the balance. ISIS represents only a symptom in the current crisis facing Iraq, the deep causes lie in the grab […]
Building an Indian Superpower : Modi’s Pakistani First Step
Narendra Modi’s landslide victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party against the incumbent National Congress in India’s national elections has bought a new political dynamic to south Asia’s key strategic actor. India hopes that Modi, a former tea seller and advert for the country’s social mobility, will begin an overdue purge of corruption and elitism. However […]









