The Arab world watched in awe last week as brave Tunisians overthrew their corrupt president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, of the past 23 years. As in other Arab “republics” established in the populist ferment of the 1950s, Tunisians have been suffering from rampant corruption and economic deprivation for decades — leading to frustration that eventually boiled onto the streets despite their government’s tight restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly. Read more »
Articles
مؤتمر «مصدر» وتوماس
التبرع بالأعضاء الجسدية في الإمارات
‘Change we can believe in’? Not for the Middle East
Mr Obama’s policies have allowed for an overall regression in democracy in the Arab world. It’s high time for fresh faces and fresh ideas from the White House to deal with outdated policies that have clearly failed in effecting a genuine change in the Middle East. Read more »
2010 shines as a celebration of ‘Kulluna Khalifa’
One need only look to the thousands of UAE citizens who thronged to Al Rawda Palace in Al Ain during September 2010 to see that this year was the year of Sheikh Khalifa. Read more »
An independent intellectual sphere is vital to the Gulf
Perhaps no Arab is better known as a public intellectual than the great late Arab American scholar Edward Said, whose writings and lectures resonated across the world. Said once wrote: “The role of the intellectual is not to consolidate authority, but to understand, interpret and question it.” Read more »