Wealthy Arab countries should support Cairo in this time of need, 20 years after receiving Gulf War assistance. Read more »
Egypt: from revolt to change
A single incident that took place in the Egyptian city of city of Alexandria on 6 June 2010 anticipates the wave of protest in the country that was to explode in January-February 2011. It involved the arrest of 28-year-old Khaled Saeed, who was detained on his way to visit an internet café in the Sidi Gaber district. Read more »
UN Dispatch: 10 Must-Follow Twitter Feeds for Egyptian Protests
Sultan Al Qassemi named as “critical bridge” between Arabic language bloggers and the English speaking world when discussing the Egypt protests. Read more »
Meeting the UAE halfway
Back in August, 2009, I touted the benefits of the close ties between Canada and the United Arab Emirates in the pages of this newspaper. Flash forward to today and things seem quite different. A commercial dispute escalated into a diplomatic incident between both countries in which no one party can emerge victorious. In this globalized world size matters less than it did 50 years ago and the emphasis is now on international co-operation. The issue of landing rights has escalated in neither side’s advantage. The local press has reported that in the two years that the UAE’s ambassador has been stationed in Ottawa he has yet to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon. Read more »
Twilight of the Arab republics
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 »
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 »