SECTARIAN violence has begun to raise its head in northern Lebanon. It is in part a spillover from across the border in Syria, but it also reflects a deeper struggle between Syria on one side and Saudi Arabia and the …
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Events across Jordan’s borders are placing the regime there in an increasingly tough situation. On one hand the ongoing security situation in Egypt has put an end to cheap energy supplies and placed a growing financial burden on the Jordanian …
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While opposition in Syria has been sustained and international pressure relentless, the al Assad regime still holds strong. Its power is based on a complicated history that must be understood to know how the situation there might develop. Unable to …
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TIMES are changing in Egypt. In January people lined up for two miles in some instances to register their vote in the first elections for decades. It feels like a new era of openness and freedom has been ushered in …
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2011 will forever be remembered as a landmark year in the history of the Middle East. Ordinary citizens took to the streets in droves, and contrary to the assessments of most intelligence agencies, were able to force out their ‘iron …
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THE FATE of Syria has huge implications for political and military players beyond its borders. Not least of these is Hezbollah, which depends on Syria, and by extension Iran, for support. Unrest in Syria has left Hezbollah worried and preparing …
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On the face of it recent unrest in Syria looks like a battle for freedom and democracy, but beneath the surface lies an ethno-sectarian confict that stretches back through history and brings a complicatied dimension to the situation there. Added …
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Lebanese politics feels like it’s on a knife-edge, with the formation of a cabinet that strongly favours Hezbollah occurring just as four of that organisation’s members are found guilty by an international tribunal of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri’s assasination. …
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The Egyptian military is currently faced with a dilemma. It wants to quit governing Egypt and go back to its old job of simply ruling it. In order to do this it has committed to holding democratic elections in the …
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A POWER vacuum is beginning to emerge in the Middle East, according to Reva Bhalla, director of analysis at global intelligence agency Stratfor. The US has taken its eye off much of the region, as it concentrates on domestic issues, …
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