The CIA under US President Dwight Eisenhower orchestrated a coup d’etat in 1953 against the Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mosaddeq, one of the first democratically elected leaders in the region. It took the US government half a century to admit any wrongdoing and offer a tepid apology to the Iranian people for meddling in their affairs. Too little, too late. Read more »
The National
Of Arabs, Jews and an internet that never forgets
Technology doesn’t always work in one’s favour, which could be something very positive for governance in the Arab world as we lack even the basic understanding of transparency. For example, it may keep officials in check when they finally realise that their actions, intentional or not, are recorded for ever and can’t be undone. Who knows? Maybe, thanks to the internet, one-day corruption in the Middle East will once again become taboo, rather than practised in broad daylight. Read more »
The land of two steps forward and one step back
The case of the Saudi judge upholding the marriage of an eight-year-old girl to a man 50 years her senior is so very wrong on innumerable levels and is a step back in the otherwise forward progress of the Kingdom. Read more »
Arab journalists in name, poles apart in practice
It is high time that we ceased to glorify individuals who disguise themselves as journalists and allow their emotions to seep through their reporting. Read more »
What if the Israelis were to bomb Iran?
Baghdad, Friday, June 31, 2011, almost ten months in the future, and Israel has attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities. What might the consequences be? Read more »
Imagine if Dubai had been too timid to build…
While many observers seem to be preoccupied with the future of Dubai and the UAE, it might be prudent to draw their attention to where the country actually stands today. The credit crunch, in fact, serves as a perfect opportunity for us to show the world that our ambitions were well placed and that many of the developments undertaken were not only very well timed but, it could even be argued, may even have been rather restrained. Read more »