![A Yemeni man picks his way through rubble [Photo Credit: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]](../../../wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Yemen-2-220x126.jpg)
Clashes between Houthi rebels, government forces, a Saudi-led military coalition, and Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula have turned Yemen into a living a war zone. Despite this, most headlines today center around conflict in Iraq and Syria, its role as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the ongoing struggle between Turkey and…
![Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika [Photo Credit: Sidali Djarboub/AP]](../../../wp-content/uploads/2016/02/algeria-1-220x126.jpg)
After promising constitutional reform in the wake of the Arab Spring, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika put forward draft constitutional articles last week aimed at bolstering the country’s democratic institutions. On face value, the changes seem promising: a two-term limit for the presidency, requiring parliamentary approval for the president’s selection of a Prime Minister, and reducing…
![An Israeli police officer detains a Palestinian protester in East Jerusalem [Photo Credit: Reuters/Ammar Awad]](../../../wp-content/uploads/2015/11/pic2-220x126.jpg)
The recent clashes in Israel and Palestine have sparked a debate as to whether the increased violence constitutes a third intifada. The question is an intriguing one; though political figures or activists might label the incidents as such, there is no academic definition of what constitutes an intifada, making a clear delineation difficult. Claims about…
![Mourners gather at a makeshift memorial to victims of the November 2015 attacks in Paris [Photo Credit: AFP/BBC]](../../../wp-content/uploads/2015/11/picture-220x126.jpg)
The recent attacks in Paris sent shockwaves throughout the Western world. The largest terrorist attack on European soil since the 2004 Madrid train bombings, the incident has resulted in an outpouring of international support and the largest French airstrikes against ISIS yet. The attacks set off a flurry of arguments aimed at understanding what the…
![Egypt's al-Azhar Mosque [Photo Credit: Wikimedia/Diego Delso]](../../../wp-content/uploads/2015/11/pic-220x126.jpg)
The Egyptian government’s announcement last month that it would ban imams from running for political office was the latest in a series of policies aimed at increasing state control of religious institutions and figures. Since Sisi’s ascent to power, the government has taken a number of steps to curtail extremism and the influence of the…
![Egyptians from the Giza Governorate vote in the 2015 parliamentary elections [Photo Credit: Zeinab Mohamed, Creative Commons]](../../../wp-content/uploads/2015/11/21692375264_d1b380ad44_k-220x126.jpg)
With parliamentary elections being held in Egypt for the first time in more than three years, one might hope the most famous citizenry of the Arab Spring would have come out in droves. Yet, estimates of voter turnout for the first phase of the election were incredibly low, with non-governmental sources reporting turnout hovering around…
![Former Saudi King Abdullah meets with then-Chinese Vice President, Xi Jinping [Photo Credit: Reuters]](../../../wp-content/uploads/2015/10/abdullahxi-220x126.jpg)
“Whoever controls the Middle East controls the world’s energy and wealth . . . whoever dominates the Middle East can rule the entire world, too.” – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, January 31, 2010 In many respects, the Middle East’s instability draws from the state of conflict created by many nations vying for individual dominance over energy markets. …
![PA President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech before the UN General Assembly [Photo Credit: Reuters]](../../../wp-content/uploads/2015/10/abbas-220x126.jpg)
“Thus, we declare that as long as Israel refuses to commit to the agreements signed with us, which render us an authority without real powers, and as long as Israel refuses to cease settlement activities and to release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with our agreements, they leave us no choice…
Only a few days after a UN-brokered ceasefire in four Syrian towns was agreed to by regime-allied and rebel forces, reports of the ceasefire being broken by both government and rebel forces emerged. The deal was posed to be unlike any prior agreement in the Syrian conflict: endorsed by Iran and Turkey, agreed to by…
As if to spite the upcoming Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah and the Islamic holy days of Dhul Hijjah, violence broke out near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem last Sunday. The area, of religious importance to both traditions, became the site of clashes between Israeli security forces and Muslim worshippers when police tried to secure…