Middle East & North Africa Archive

The wave of Arab Spring uprisings, and the regime violence that followed in countries such as Libya and Syria, has led to new flows of internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees, with those numbers increasing as the violence in Syria escalates. “The Arab Spring has affected a whole range of countries in North Africa and the Middle East, but the effect on refugees and IDPs is limited to a smaller number of countries,” said Khalid Koser, who heads the New Issues in Security Program at the Geneva Center for Security Policy. “The first reason for this has to do with […]

Amateur videos purport to show the streets of Homs, now abandoned and scarred by the 27-day shelling from Syrian government forces. World News Videos by NewsLook

Iran and Azerbaijan have had a volatile diplomatic relationship ever since Azerbaijan gained its independence 20 years ago. But even against the backdrop of their bumpy history, the deterioration in relations over the past few months has been swift. Azerbaijan’s recent moves to strengthen its alliance with Israel have certainly exacerbated tensions with Iran, but they are not the only cause of conflict. In addition to the two sides’ history of mutual suspicion, violent disagreement over sovereignty and each other’s choice of regional diplomatic partners are also prominent causes of strife. A central source of long-term tension between the two […]

The recent parliamentary elections in Iran, in which conservative allies of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to gain majority control of the parliament, were an embarrassing blow to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who will now face an even more hostile political environment for the rest of his second term, which ends in June 2013. “Going forward, we are going to see a more authoritarian system of government where there is less give-and-take and where foreign and domestic policy is more likely to be rigid rather than flexible, with really a few men making major decisions,” said Alireza Nader, a senior […]

Even as India refuses to join the U.S.-led sanctions regime on Iran, New Delhi is simultaneously cementing ties with Tehran’s long-standing rival, Saudi Arabia. Last month saw the first-ever visit by an Indian defense minister to the kingdom in a move that signals as much New Delhi’s willingness to emerge as a net provider of security to Saudi Arabia as Riyadh’s desire to look beyond Pakistan for its security needs. At a deeper level, the visit underscored the fact that the Gulf Cooperation Council — of which Saudi Arabia is the largest constituent — and India now view each other […]

Washington’s successful efforts to kill top al-Qaida leaders, combined with the emergence of strong pro-democracy movements in the Muslim world, have led many to conclude that al-Qaida is fizzling out. But while the conventional wisdom increasingly portrays the group as becoming gradually but steadily a spent and irrelevant force, there is evidence that this optimistic conclusion is grossly premature. Judging by the mayhem and death toll the group is inflicting in several countries — including hundreds killed by its militants in just the past few days — al-Qaida appears to be catching a second wind. The dramatic Navy Seal operation […]

Last month, Saudi Arabia made a move to normalize one of the Middle East’s key diplomatic relationships when it announced that the Saudi ambassador to Jordan would also serve as ambassador to Iraq. Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Baghdad after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. Two decades later, tensions remain, compounded by Saudi suspicion of the Shiite government in Iraq. But now the two key U.S. allies are making headlines for the steps they are taking to improve bilateral relations. “At bare minimum I think what we’ve seen are good gestures on the parts of the people who lead […]

The Obama administration’s claim that sanctions on Iran are working is belied by a problematic truth: Sanctions are a short-sighted and often ineffective tool of statecraft. In the case of Iran, they have had a strongly negative impact on the average Iranian, thereby diminishing the United States’ moral standing in the world and undermining the goal of reducing the security threat posed by Iran. Recognizing this, the U.S. should embrace a new strategy of principled re-engagement with Iran that revisits diplomacy and minimizes harm to regular Iranians. Such a strategy is the best way to alleviate the long-term threat posed […]

Tribal chiefs and militia commanders in Libya’s east have declared semi-autonomy for the oil-rich region. They made the announcement at a meeting in Benghazi. Leaders from the area known as Barqa, or Cyrenacia, said they had been neglected for decades under Muammar Gadhafi.

The debate among U.S. foreign policy analysts over the wisdom of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities — and whether or not America should allow itself to be drawn into an ensuing conflict with Iran should Israel strike — has largely taken place parallel to the debate over whether to pursue an R2P, or responsibility to protect, intervention in Syria. It bears noting, however, that forcing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s departure may be the best near-term policy for the U.S. to avoid being sucked into an Israeli-Iranian war. Clearly the Assad ruling clan deserves our best efforts short of […]

The veto by Russia and China in February of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down has stalled efforts by the U.S., its European allies and the Arab League to halt the bloody crackdown in Syria through U.N. action. Though the U.S. is currently drafting a new U.N. resolution, calls by some observers to arm the Syrian resistance have now been echoed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf Cooperation Council states eager to see the pro-Iranian Assad regime replaced by a Sunni-dominated government. Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined the ranks of […]

The conventional wisdom in U.S. policy circles is that China’s support for autocrats in the Middle East, most recently manifested by its veto of a proposed U.N. Security Council resolution sponsored by the Arab League that called for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad to step down, has placed Beijing on the wrong side of history. Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking at the conclusion of the Friends of Syria conference in Tunis, warned the Chinese that “they are setting themselves against the aspirations not only of the Syrian people but of the entire Arab Spring.” The implication is that […]

A string of self-immolations and a dramatic crackdown in China’s Sichuan Province has kept Tibet in the public eye in recent months. Yet the deaths of 20 people in violent clashes Tuesday in China’s other restive border region, the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, brought Beijing’s other major domestic crackdown back into the international spotlight. Xinjiang is home to a large population of ethnically Turkic Uighurs, who refer to their homeland as East Turkestan and have long resented Chinese rule. In recent years, restrictions on the use of the Uighur language in schools, an influx of Han Chinese migrants and curbs […]

Israeli defense officials confirmed Sunday a deal to sell $1.6 billion in arms, including drones and missile defense systems, to Azerbaijan. The deal reflects the close relationship between Israel, which finds itself increasingly isolated in an increasingly hostile region, and Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran and is building up its military capability in the midst of its own dispute with Armenia. The news comes at a delicate time, with tensions flaring between Israel and Iran dominate headlines and analysts warning that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities could spiral into a regional conflict. Now, growing tensions between […]

As the ground continues to shift in the Middle East, the cracks that have long existed inside the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas are coming to the surface. The growing divisions could split the organization, but they have wider implications. Hamas’ alliance with Tehran is becoming increasingly untenable. Long a fixture of the modern Middle East, the four-member bloc comprised of Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah is slowly coming apart. The strains of adapting to the changing regional landscape are showing in Hamas’ two-tier leadership, divided between those in exile and those who remain in the Palestinian territories. In recent months, […]