Category Archives: English

November 5, 2011 · 14:24

A War for Nothing? The Gloomy Aftermath of America’s Withdrawal from Iraq

Commentary by Riccardo Dugulin – 5 November 2011

The start of the Iraq war in 2003, with all the protests that it sparked, the diplomatic ballet that it unleashed, and the dictator that it toppled, is an event that marked a generation. Chances are that the end of the US military mission in Mesopotamia, marking the last stop of Washington’s second longest armed engagement to date, will not stir as much attention. Victory during WWII had its imagery and so did the US’s defeat in Vietnam. Iraq will most probably fade away. Moqtada Al Sadr promised that there won’t be any major attack on US troops while they are leaving Iraq. Aside from the incidental threat posed by Al Qaeda in the region, US servicemen and servicewomen should not expect any widespread violence as they prepare their drawdown after more than eight years of engagement. Continue reading →

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November 1, 2011 · 12:33

Taxation, Bahrain’s Alternative Path to Reform

Commentary by Hasan Alhasan – 1 November 2011

Bahrain's Crown Prince. Source: bloomberg.com

The decades long adage of “no representation without taxation” that seemed to underpin the way governments have interacted with their citizens in the Gulf region soon may no longer be valid in the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain. In August, the government announced it was studying the highly unpopular option of introducing a corporate tax on companies, a valued-added tax on products and a cut in public subsidizations of consumer goods to cover the growing budget deficit. The country’s Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Al-Khalifa – a modernizing figure within the country’s ruling family – is intent on decreasing Bahrain’s economic dependence on oil and thus on Saudi Arabia. It is estimated that in 2010 oil revenues coming in from the shared Saudi oil field of Abu Safah as subsidy represented up to 67% of Bahrain’s budget revenue. Continue reading →

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October 17, 2011 · 12:27

French Arabs and the 2012 Presidential Elections

Commentary by Antoine Alhéritière – 17 October 2011

Source: timesonline.co.uk

The upcoming 2012 presidential elections are by far the most discussed topic in France since… the 2007 presidential election. France’s appetite for politics has gradually increased since the start of the socialist party’s primaries last January, or what “PS” figures like to call an “innovative” candidate-designation process. In a more unadvertised fashion, the Sarkozy-led right-wing majority is also preparing the 2012 battle, with the current minister of agriculture, Bruno Le Maire, in charge of the President’s reelection campaign. Continue reading →

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October 8, 2011 · 13:20

“Democratization” in the Gulf? Saudi and Emirati Style

Commentary by Riccardo Dugulin – 8 October 2011

Semantics matters. International media and commentators have a negative propensity to easily depict the Gulf Monarchies, and especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as absolutist systems. Such a definition does not take into consideration the active political life and inter-familial distinct tendencies that shape the policy-making process of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. In Kuwait and Bahrain voters have concrete constitutional powers and the month of September witnessed elections in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These facts should not be over interpreted, as none of the Gulf Monarchies may be coined as liberal democracies. Continue reading →

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September 25, 2011 · 14:37

The Long-Term Perspectives of Obama’s Unclear Middle East Policy

 Commentary by Takuya Matsuda – 25 September 2011

Source: blogs.aljazeera.net

Amid the political upheaval in the Middle East, the Obama administration has come under heavy criticism for what many analysts and activists describe as a government with no coherent policy in the region. Others have claimed that Obama is little more than an opportunist who changes his stances in accordance with the evolution of particular situations, rather than basing his policy on democratic and just principles. Continue reading →

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September 12, 2011 · 09:09

Erdogan’s New Doctrine: How the Turks Finally Got it Right

Commentary by Tamer Mallat – 12 September 2011

Source: NationalTurk.com

Since the AKP’s arrival to power in 2002 under the aegis of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish foreign policy could be best described as being schizophrenic. For a country situated at the crossroads of history’s ever-changing geopolitical fault lines, such a characterization is far from extraordinary. The Ottoman Empire, from its birth, its various metamorphoses, and its eventual demise, never once ceased to bear witness to the constant evolution of its neighbors on every front of its borders. Once the primary catalyst of change, the Sublime Porte, in the last few centuries of its life, quickly became a victim to external pressures and political seismic shifts. Today, the Turks appear to have finally gotten their act together in terms of developing a coherent and effective foreign policy. This though was the result of a long process marked by years of trial and error. Continue reading →

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September 2, 2011 · 16:29

Who Lost Lebanon? From Politics of Confrontation to Compromise

Commentary by Takuya Matsuda – 2 September 2011

Rafiq Hariri & Hassan Nasrallah

The year 2011 already seemed likely to flower into a turbulent year for the Middle East, even before the advent of the “Arab Spring” that toppled close to three dictators in the region. Hezbollah’s withdrawal from the national unity government in Lebanon, which kept the country’s chronic sectarian conflicts from resurfacing for the past few years, sparked fears that the Lebanese “time bomb” was finally going to explode. Nobody could have predicted “the Arab Spring”, a series of historical events that have rocked the region’s authoritarian regimes since January. Continue reading →

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