By Bernhard Schell
IDN-InDepth NewsReport
BEIRUT (IDN) – Though legally bound by their respective constitutions to honour basic economic and social rights, Arab government usually violate such rights in practice, which partly explains the socio-political eruptions in the region, widely known as the Arab Spring. This is the upshot of the first Arab Watch Report by civil society organizations of ten Middle East and North African countries.
By Giorgio Cafiero*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
WASHINTON DC (IDN | FPIF) – The demise of secular autocratic regimes in the Middle East and North Africa has heralded a renaissance for Islamist parties in the region, igniting a rivalry for the hearts and minds of the Sunni world between the Gulf powers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
By Jen Alic of Oilprice.com*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – People often ask me why the West doesn’t attempt a Libya-style intervention in Syria. After all, things are going so well in Libya. Oil production is up. But oil production is merely a mirage, as is security in Libya, which was doomed from the day one PG (post-Gaddafi) because of the way it was “liberated”.
Last Wednesday (September 12), US envoy to Libya Christopher Stevens was killed along with three other American diplomats in a rocket attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.
By Ernest Corea*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
WASHINGTON (IDN) – Eleven years after the murderous events that made “nine-eleven” an universally recognized description of a date of tragedy, another 9/11 has seen actions that caused destruction, public commotion and tragic loss of lives.
This year’s disturbances which began in Egypt and Libya took the form of violent demonstrations directed at American diplomatic staff and institutions. The demonstrations have spread across a wide swath of countries – at least a dozen according to some reports – in Africa and Asia.
By Eric Walberg*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
TORONTO (IDN) – The world is living through a veritable slow-motion earthquake. If things go according to plan, the US obsession with Afghanistan and Iraq will soon be one of those ugly historical disfigurements that — at least for most Americans — will disappear into the memory hole.
By Bernhard Schell
IDN-InDepth NewsReport
GENEVA (IDN) – Libya’s new rulers have been warmly welcomed into the fold of the United Nations in the wake of obtaining diplomatic recognition from about 90 countries – even as fighting continues southeast of Tripoli in Sirte, one of the last remaining strongholds of the so-called “King of Kings of Africa”.
By Ramesh Jaura
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
BERLIN (IDN) – While a frantic search is on for Muammar al-Gaddafi’s whereabouts, the NATO-backed Battle for Libya is far from over. Not only because a scramble for the North African state’s opulent resources has just started, but also because the Benghazi ‘revolutionaries’ are confronted with tough battles on several fronts.
By Baher Kamal and Fareed Mahdy*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
MADRID/CAIRO (IDN) – While the Palestinian Authority (PA) is focussing its energies on achieving full membership for the state of Palestine in the United Nations in September, the U.S. and Israel appear to be leaving no stone unturned to thwart the plan. They are proposing new talks on condition that the Palestinians abandon their legitimate demand for independence.
Knowledgeable sources believe that the Middle East game was over even before it started. In fact, a reasonable dose of good memory and a quick look at the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would suffice to conclude that it had ended exactly 114 years ago.
By Rumel Dahiya*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
NEW DELHI (IDN) – In an unprecedented move, top four military commanders in Turkey stepped down from their posts on 29 July 2011. Chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner, Land Forces Commander Gen. Erdal Ceylanoğlu, Naval Forces Commander Adm. Eşref Uğur Yiğit and Air Forces Commander Gen. Hasan Aksay asked to be retired with immediate effect.
By Richard Johnson
IDN-InDepth NewsReport
BRUSSELS (IDN) – Amid persisting mayhem in the region, Bahrain – the small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf – seems to be joining the category of under-reported conflict-ridden countries. So that this does not happen, an international think tank has presented a profound situation analysis and proposed a set of far-reaching measures aimed at ushering in a “slow but steady progress toward political reform” instead of “endemic instability”.
The report calls upon the United States and other Western governments to suspend security assistance, including commercial sales of military and police equipment to Bahrain. Such assistance and sales should be suspended until the Bahrain government “ends its human rights violations and takes genuine steps toward meaningful political dialogue,” says the International Crisis Group.
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