Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Iraqi minister of transportation, Hadi Al-Ameri, inspects volunteer fighters who joined the Iraqi army to fight against jihadist militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Al-Othaim in Diyala province, north of the capital Baghdad, on August 3, 2014. (AFP Photo/Amer Al-Saadi)

Hadi Al-Ameri: A Militia Leader Torn between Washington and Tehran

by Hamza Mustafa | Sep 25, 2014 | Profiles

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—When the leader of the Badr Organization, Hadi Al-Ameri, became Iraq’s minister of transport during former prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s second term in office, no one from Iraq’s political class or the major international political players...

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French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem holds a press conference during her visit of the Crous of Paris, on September 8, 2014, in Paris. (AFP PHOTO/ MARTIN BUREAU)

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem: France’s Rising Star

by Michel Abu Najm | Sep 11, 2014 | Profiles

Paris, Asharq Al-Awsat—A recent opinion poll conducted by a French newspaper showed that Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, France’s new minister of education, had become the country’s second most popular politician, only 15 days after her official appointment. The 36-year-old...

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In this July 15, 2014 file photo, Shi’ite lawmaker and Deputy Parliament Speaker Haider al-Abadi speaks to the media after an Iraqi parliament session in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Haider Al-Abadi: From Electrical Engineer to PM-Designate

by Hamza Mustafa | Aug 13, 2014 | Profiles

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Haider Al-Abadi, the man tasked with forming the country’s next government and resolving a longstanding political crisis that has very real security implications on Iraq, appears to have come out of nowhere....

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File photo of Fouad Ajami.

Fouad Ajami, His Books, and the Arab Political Condition

by Afshin Molavi | Jun 24, 2014 | Profiles

“Khalil Hawi, a poet of renown and professor at the American University of Beirut, educated at that university and at Cambridge, killed himself in the evening of June 6, 1982, at the age of sixty-two, on the balcony of his home in West Beirut.” Thus began one of the...

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Pakistan’s newly appointed army chief General Raheel Sharif attends the change of command ceremony at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi on November 29, 2013. (Reuters/Mian Khursheed)

Pakistan Army Chief Raheel Sharif: A Key Strategist?

by Umar Farouq | Dec 29, 2013 | Profiles

Islamabad, Asharq Al-Awsat—On December 9, 2013, the US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel began his visit to Pakistan by calling on the country’s newly appointed Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif, in his office at the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi. The message...

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Iraq’s Parliament Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi speaks to the media in Baghdad, Iraq, on July 25, 2013. (AP)

Osama Al-Nujaifi: Iraq’s Future President?

by Hamza Mustafa | Oct 6, 2013 | Profiles

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Politics in Iraq is not the art of the possible. Rather, Iraqi politics is closer to the art of the impossible, an all-or-nothing game that offers players the chance to either reach the pinnacle of political power, or see their ambitions...