Call them dirty, complicated, interesting or all of the above, from coalition building to elections, our Politics section brings insightful analyses on what drives and determines power competition in governments.
The issuing of fatwas, or religious rulings, by sometimes badly trained Islamic scholars is proliferating all across the Muslim world. The purposes of some of these fatwas, which are supposed to be based in the knowledge and wisdom of those who issue them, are quite disturbing and are tarnishing the image of Islam. For Muslim governments, this expansion of fatwa-issuing is becoming a growing concern.
Nigeria's national elections scheduled for the upcoming year have the potential to undermine the country's current precarious stability, potentially exacerbating ethnic, regional and religious tensions. These elections may also be the ones to abandon the power-sharing agreement that has been in place for a decade. This potential crisis is germinating within the context of ongoing ethnic and religious violence in the Middle Belt and in the Delta regions.
The run up to the 2011 Egyptian presidential elections will be a crucial period for Egypt's political future. There is the potential for real change but the indications are that the key figures will once again cynically use religious sentiments to win legitimacy. If ElBaradei is serious about reforming Egypt's political culture, he must avoid this strategy.
Turkey's increasingly confrontational policy towards the West does not have just ideological roots but business ones too. Turkey’s diversification of diplomatic relations, and the economic ties it has been developing with several Middle Eastern countries, allows it to move away from its traditionally pro-Western foreign policy.
Turkey should take great care to retain the international sympathy that has been accumulating since 2003 with its “step ahead” policy in solving Cyprus. Recently, Turkey’s focus on Gaza, Israel and Iran’s nuclear program has led it to overlook the Cyprus issue that matters greatly to the EU, the platform from which Turkey has been able to achieve so much in the region in recent years.
Saudi Liberals, one of the two competing factions in Saudi society, remain an understudied group. The term liberal is relatively new in Saudi parlance, although there had been earlier occurrences of secular activism in Saudi Arabia. The liberal movement was born in opposition to the Sahwa movement and, for years, it had no clear project of its own. In the early 2000s, a split occurred between what can be referred to as social liberals and political liberals. Today, although claiming to speak for a “silent majority,” these liberal voices continue to represent an elite group with no strong connections to society.
Recent proposals to guarantee oil supplies to China in exchange for its cooperation in confronting Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program betray the emergence of China as a central issue in Gulf Security. Regardless of whether these proposals are adopted, they mark a turning point in China’s rise. The question now is: will Beijing become a constructive player in Gulf security or will it only pursue its narrow energy interests?
There are significant parallels between Ahmadinejad and Kubrick’s most memorable character, Dr. Strangelove. Dr. Strangelove was an extremely trigger-happy, suspiciously double-talking character that so many in 1960s America feared—the same kind of characterization, in fact, that many in the Western media have now branded upon Ahmadinejad. But is there really a madman lurking far beneath the placid surface of Iran’s President?
Despite having spent the latter parts of the ‘90s courting Europe, since 2009 Turkish attention, both politically and economically, has started to look East rather than West. Is this a sign that Turkey, grown tired of its role as the perpetual suitor of Europe, finds the position of regional leader more congenial? Turkey wants to be a major player in the Middle East, and what is crucial to understand is that the AKP’s diplomatic opening has been successful in large part because Turkey is a much more powerful country trade-wise than it was a decade ago.
Too many disruptive and unpromising events have been going on just before elections in Iraq, and the promise of a truly democratic state where the rule of law prevails seems grim. These elections will determine much of Iraq’s near future, not only the internal balance of power but also Iraq’s diplomatic relations with other Arab countries, with the US, and with Iran.
The ban on the full veil in France has been defended as a means to protect the rights of women, but foremost to protect the definition of what is French. However, if the government intends to defend the quintessential values of the French state—liberty, equality and fraternity—they should take a second look at the partiality behind their definitions of what constitutes liberty and what constitutes equality. Rather than focusing on the ban, the government would benefit from revaluating the way it aims to integrate immigrants into French society.
The Dubai crisis is not a world crisis but a crisis for the UAE federation. The crisis will considerably affect the economic and political position of the sheikhdom within the federation by unsettling the balance of power between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The crisis is also a blow to those devising post-oil developmental strategies for Middle Eastern countries.
A global survey shows a steep decline in US approval ratings in Muslim countries
As many regional variables begin to play into the future defi nition of Saudi-US ties, the formula that was once used to characterize their rapport no longer applies writes Caryle Murphy
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The GCC needs to put pressure on Saleh to reform the political system!
Ahmed Dadid at Sep 9, 2010 11:51 AM
After the American debacle in Iraq its a petty to see
the Iraqis postpone their own progress
johnL at Sep 9, 2010 11:51 AM
This is great news for my country, ensuring future stability in the energy market.
Ahmed Hassan at Sep 6, 2010 1:35 PM
A brilliantly well-measured piece of thought-provoking reflection which should merit the attention a ...
Dr. Kwaku Asante-Darko at Aug 18, 2010 5:36 PM
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