Egypt: Military’s Actions Supported or Ignored
Every day brings new reports of how a resurgent Egyptian government – staffed by the country’s armed forces – is stomping on those who it deems to be an undesirable … Continue reading
Egypt: History Repeats Itself Amid Potential for a New Al-Qaida
The Egyptian military’s recent overthrow of the country’s popularly elected government – generally known as a coup – is nothing new for the Middle East. Unsurprisingly, it poses multiple scenarios … Continue reading
Middle East: Musing on How Commonalities between Iran and Israel Provide Significant Opportunities for Both Countries and the World
The two primary reasons why other nations remain interested in stability in the Arabian Gulf are oil and natural gas. While the Gulf provides a host of opportunities for entrepreneurs … Continue reading
United States: Start of Negotiations on the International Services Agreement but Impact Could be Limited
Services liberalization – long a pillar of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha Round – made a comeback earlier this month when the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced it would … Continue reading
Middle East: Arafat’s New Autopsy to Resolve Nothing
The body of the late-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was exhumed on Tuesday in response to his widow’s allegation that Arafat had been poisoned – a belief widely shared by many … Continue reading
Middle East: Morsi Builds His Reputation And Throws Away all the Goodwill
The recently signed truce between Hamas and Israel is a few days old and, despite some relatively minor issues, seems to be holding up. While its not surprising that both … Continue reading
Middle East: Will the Aggressive Policy End the Conflict between Israel and Hamas
The latest iteration of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians (in this instance Hamas) provides nothing new to those who follow the region and conflict. This new chapter … Continue reading
Iran: Ahmadinejad Speaks and the Israelis Walk Out
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at the United Nations (UN) on September 24, 2012 and, as is tradition, made his regular “controversial” statements. Nothing new there as, frankly, nothing can … Continue reading
All Sorts of Things 