Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
Increasingly Questionable US military presence in the Middle East By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz The expanding US military presence in the Mideast reveals a number of central problems. The threats of ISIS lie dormant. The new discoveries of vast fields of natural gas and oil in the Mediterranean Levant basin (and elsewhere) are temptations for state…
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The Islamic Republic of Iran: Forty Years Later Forty years later, neither the tears of the Arab regimes nor the rise of Israeli alarms have stopped the expansion of Iran’s nuclear program and hegemony in the region. By Abdennour Toumi With the Iraqi quagmire, the Syrian imbroglio, and the Afghanistan cul-de-sac, the U.S. and the…
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Saudis identify suspects in murder of Jamal Khashoggi Saudi Arabia officials announced that 11 suspect’s have been indicted by the Saudi Arabian prosecutor in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi on October 2, 2018 during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The Public Prosecutor issued a statement following the two previous statements issued…
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Will Khashoggi’s demise at least help end the Yemen war? By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz Debate about the forensic aspect of the Saudi murder has been exhaustive and repetitive. It is time to change the focus. Riyadh is not ready to assume any responsibility for the death of the Saudi Washington Post opinion writer…
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A Feature interview with Turkish Professor Tugrul Keskin By Abdennour Toumi Professor Tugrul Keskin is Professor-Director of the Center for Global Governance at Shanghai University, China. Keskin was the Graduate Director at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey. He taught previously at the Department of International and Global…
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Turkey’s Second Republic: Between Dialectic Realism and Societal Pragmatism President re-elect Erdoğan is realistic about the challenges he faces in leading his nation domestically and regionally. By Abdennour Toumi President re-elect Reçep Tayep Erdoğan has officially become the first elected President of the Second Republic of Turkey, and the 12th President of modern Turkey…
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Holy Odd Alliance to dethrone champion Erdoğan This Presidential election bears witness to a cultural existential fight between two societal projects. Sunday’s legislative election outcome is crucial for the President who needs a majority from his party to govern and not be obliged to co-exist with an opponent Parliament that would make him a lame duck…
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Christian Orthodox prepare for Easter celebrations Easter is a special holiday for Christians because more than Christmas, it brings Christians closer to their faith. Although both Easter and Christmas are commercialized by big business and greed, Easter resonates more. Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter after mainstream Christians, mainly because the Orthodox remain on the old Julian…
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Why Algeria Should Get a Leader Like President Erdoğan? President Erdoğan read attentively Ibn Khadun and Machiavelli, and synthesized their theory in the exercise of power’s ruse and cruelty. By Abdennour Toumi In the wake of Mr. Kamel Daoud’s Open Letter, a journalist and an author based in Paris to President Erdoğan, he wrote in…
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“Olive Branch” Paris Position: Reticence and Opacity Ankara’s Operation “Olive Branch” in Afrin indicates a new orientation to reinstate Paris’ position in the Syrian civil war by trying to be a major player in the process of Syrian peace talks negotiations. By Abdennour Toumi Turkey’s current military foray Operation “Olive Branch” in Afrin, a northwestern…
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How President Trump and Arab Leaders Are Making Turkey Great Again By Abdennour Toumi The Arab street has been waiting for a political leader (a-Zae’em) since Gamel and Houari Boumédiène when it comes to making a stand against the Western hegemony led by the U.S. in the region. Lately the Middle East has been experiencing…
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Syrian journalist murdered with mother in Turkey Orient News English reported that their English language editor Halla Barakat was found murdered in her apartment with her mother this morning in Turkey. Barakat was a fierce critic of the violence in Syria and was investigating war crimes there. She was investigating abuses and torture of prisoners…
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Emerging optimism for Lebanon’s political deadlock Will the Lebanese living abroad visit their homeland in large numbers this summer? By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz A disastrous civil war that lasted fifteen years (1975-1990) nearly obliterated Lebanon’s image as the “Switzerland of the Middle East.” Since the end of the civil war Lebanon has been reconstructed, physically,…
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Beyond the Beltway Radio panel tackles North Korea threat The weekly Sunday radio show Beyond the Beltway, hosted by veteran political writer and commentator Bruce DuMont, tackles the frightening issue of the rising threats of North Korea’s tyrant Kim Jong Un. Panelists included Asian specialist Karl Friedhoff of the Chicago Council of Global Affairs who has…
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Democracy reinforced under Turkey’s Erdogan My column this week in the Arab News speaks to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, truly one of the few real Democratic leaders in the Middle East standing up to rising religious extremism from Muslims in the Arab World, Christians in the West and Jews in radical Israel. A referendum he…
A Turkish Democracy with a sour K’nafah taste What does the outcome of the vote mean for the future of new Turkey’s political Second Republic? By Abdennour Toumi Sunday the Turks voted on a referendum proposing eighteen amendments to Turkey’s 1982 constitution. These amendments have passed and given birth to Turkey’s Second Republic, granting President…
Radio Podcast: Istanbul Palestinian Diaspora conference Al Jazeera Journalist Ali Younes joins Columnist and radio talkshow host Ray Hanania in discussing the future of the Palestinians on live radio in Detroit on Friday March 17, 2017 on WNZK AM 690. Listen to the audio podcast of the radio show below Al Jazeera English reporter and editor…
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Al Jazeera: Palestinians debate impact of Diaspora efforts Veteran Arab American journalist Ali Younes explores the challenges facing the Palestinian Diaspora in his most recent feature on the recent gathering of Palestinian activists in Istanbul. Click here to read the Al Jazeera Feature. Ali Younes, an award winning professional journalist who has traveled throughout the Middle…
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