The role of international volunteers in Palestine: what am I doing here?
Should international volunteers initiate debates about Palestinian social issues such as the place of religion, or are they misusing their authority in doing so? One is hard-pressed not to constantly...
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The scramble for democracy: who is in Tahrir Square?
Meanwhile a Christian Egyptian friend of mine called me from Tahrir Square. He was crying, and I honestly thought that maybe he got attacked there. But he was crying in happiness. The Muslim...
View ArticleLife in limbo for UK’s irregular migrant children and families
The Obama administration’s recent decision to suspend deportations and grant renewable residence permits to young ‘illegal’ migrants brought up in the United States will benefit up to 800,000 young...
View ArticleSyria and Iran, a diplomatic tunnel
The rivalry and mistrust around Syria's conflict and Iran's nuclear programme, including between Russia and the United States, make international progress on the issues ever less likely. The last of...
View ArticleLatin America, an election cascade
A series of fifteen elections across Latin America in 2009-12 offers a useful guide to the region's main democratic trends, says Daniel Zovatto. The presidential election in the Dominican Republic on...
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Fires and politics in Doha, a worrying combination
No smoke without fire? Events in the Arab world are becoming more and more interlinked, and more and more - sectarian tensions cloud thinking. The recent tragic fire that struck Doha’s Villagio mall...
View ArticleCameron plays politics with Britain's welfare system, can Labour respond with...
Britain's Prime Minister has just launched a headline catching speech on welfare reform driven by the need for cuts, justified in terms of fairness and the virtues of self-reliance, and aiming to cash...
View ArticleDisquiet and despair: the gender sub-texts of the “Arab spring”
The extreme precariousness of women’s rights in post- Arab spring successor regimes can neither be fully accounted for with reference to the rise of politically empowered Islamist parties nor...
View ArticleThe Progressive Challenge: taking on robber baron politics
The following is taken from the opening speech at the Take Back the American Dream Summit in Washington, D.C., on June 18 We are at the beginning of the fierce struggle to define what comes after a...
View ArticleThis week's window on the Middle East - June 25, 2012
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: events in the Arab world are becoming more and more interlinked, and...
View ArticleNRA proves that guns actually save lives
Still, some critical of the NRA believe that the organization is too soft when it comes to gun laws, and laws in general. On July 20, 2012, bullets fired from guns held by James Holmes killed 12...
View ArticleManaf Tlass and the future of Syria
A solution that includes the Tlass family is not worthy of the sacrifices that many ordinary Syrians have made. Successful defections from collapsing regimes are about timing and Manaf Tlass’s...
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Why Syrian refugees protest
While criticism of the AKP is either ideological or nationalist, the Turkish people’s reactions to Syrian refugees are marked by anti-Arab sentiments. Turkey has spent more than 200 Million Turkish...
View ArticleThis week's window on the Middle East - July 30, 2012
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: Turkish people’s reactions to Syrian refugees are marked by...
View ArticleMigration and development: a question of barriers
Immigration policy should balance both the needs of the British economy and the developmental impact the policy will have on countries of origin. Overcoming popular and political resistance to this...
View ArticleIs migration studies failing to defend migrant rights?
With more than 3,000 post graduate students studying migration in Europe each year, a more holistic approach to teaching migration must be part of the solution to help uphold migrants’ human rights,...
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أنا و أم أحمد و البيكيني
لأول مرة في تاريخ مصر, ترتدي سيدتها الأولى الحجاب و كما أثار زوجها قلق الكثيرون حول مدنية الدولة, أثارت زوجته القلق حول صورة المرأة المصرية. Article also available in Englishعبرنا الشارع – 7 نساء و...
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Undressing Um Ahmad: Egyptian women between the bikini and the burquaa'
Egypt's new First Lady is covered, a first in the history of this country. Just as her Muslim Brotherhood husband has raised more than a few worries on the secularity of the state; the way his wife...
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Tatarstan: the restoration of history, religion and national feeling
The Republic of Tatarstan is spending some of its not inconsiderable oil and gas revenues on restoring the ruined capital of an 8th century civilisation. This project may play well to the sense of...
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The Fire and the Games: how London’s Olympic opening confronted corporate...
London 2012's opening ceremony had a lot to say about the British and their homeland. Behind the eccentricity and humour lay a radical challenge to neoliberalism and the corporate control that the...
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