Iraq
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Ever since World War I, if there is one region of the world that has been in constant turmoil, it is the Middle East (or West Asia, whichever way you like to call it). European imperialism, post-colonial despotism or neo-colonialism — there are a lot many reasons that can be held responsible for the plight of the Middle East. I once discussed the historical factors responsible for the ongoing strife in the Middle East in an earlier article. A century has passed since the First World War, and while the rest of the world has moved on, Middle East still…
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Nowadays, if there is one part of the world that repeatedly finds itself in the midst of some conflict or the other, it has to be Western Asia, which is more commonly known as Middle East. Looking at the present-day map of Middle East is a confusing and heart-breaking experience. There are random boundaries separating one state from another, and issues such as terrorism, political strife, corruption, etc. are rampant. However, it was not always this way. Not so long ago, Middle East was the pinnacle of peace and prosperity. So what went wrong? In this rather long essay, I…
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So Iraq is in turmoil, and a full-fledged sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites looks imminent. Probably, USA will need to interfere yet again (there’s oil at stake, after all), and the inefficiency of Nouri al-Maliki’s rule has been exposed. However, beyond all that, something else is worth discussing here. The message and motives of ISIS have clearly shown that they intend to restore the Caliphate, like it or not. This has sent the alarm bells ringing: Caliphate poses a threat to both Western hegemony in the region as well as the misrule of regional despots. Quite obviously, everyone is…
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The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) recently published a study titled The Arab Integration: A 21st Century Development Imperative. Prepared by over two dozen writers and intellectuals from the Arab World, this report (spanning more than 300 pages) talks about the social, political and economic challenges that the Arabs are facing nowadays. More importantly, the UNESCWA Report also addresses the problems that lie ahead in the Arab integration roadmap.
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As we speak, Kuwait is hosting its first Arab League Summit. The slogan for this year’s Summit is “Solidarity For A Better Future”. Question is: will the Kuwait Summit ensure solidarity for the region? It is a well known fact that the Arab World has seen its own share of regional alliances formed on the basis of ideological, sectarian and regional dynamics. With the recent cases of the Arab Spring, such dynamism has become all the more complicated and thus, regional solidarity is surely a challenging task to accomplish.