Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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An Iranian Shiite Muslim woman sits in front a poster depicting religious prayers written in Arabic in downtown Tehran on November 9, 2013, during a ceremony marking Ashura, which commemorates the seventh-century slaying of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. (AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI)

The Myth of the Shi’a Crescent

by Laurence Louër | Nov 12, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

The notion of “Shi’a crescent” was first articulated in late 2004 by King Abdullah of Jordan in an interview he gave a few weeks before the first parliamentary elections in Iraq, in which he expressed his fears about the growing influence of Iran in the Arab Middle...

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The White House is shown in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Aug. 30, 2013, as discussion continues on what action the Obama Administration will take regarding Syria and the use of chemical weapons. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Axes of Fable

by Hussein Ibish | Oct 25, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

The decade following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States produced two defining mythologies in American and Arab political culture: the “axis of evil,” and the “axis of resistance.” Both of these mirages have been subsequently abandoned...

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File photo—Benghazi residents celebrates Martyrs’ Day on September 16, 2013. (AFP PHOTO/ABDULLAH DOMA)

Beyond Tripoli’s Grasp

by Jason Pack and Haley Cook | Oct 7, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

More than a year after successful post-conflict elections in Libya, the country’s political scene and economy are more unstable than ever. The central government is weak and cannot guarantee its citizens even the basic services of electricity, water and security. In...

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Palestinians celebrate and wave green Hamas and yellow Fatah flags as they wait for the released prisoners at a checkpoint at the entrance of Beit Hanoun between north of Gaza Strip and Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. (AP photo/Hatem Moussa)

A House Divided

by Jacqueline Shoen | Sep 11, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

For a while, reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas resembled peace talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization: a perpetual re-enactment of similar scenarios, press statements and meetings, with decreasing public expectation of genuine...

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Syrian children stand in front of a UNICEF school during a visit by European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva and Italy’s Foreign Minister Emma Bonino at the Al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria June 25, 2013. (Reuters/Muhammad Hamed)

Syria’s Deadly Bureaucracy

by James Denselow | Aug 30, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

The latest chemical attack, which allegedly killed hundreds in Damascus, will worsen the humanitarian disaster in Syria. Last week, the UN registered the one millionth Syrian child refugee. Earlier in the month, the UN also confirmed what many already suspected—that...

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This Tuesday, March 5, 2013 citizen journalism file photo provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC shows Syrian man sitting on a fallen statue of former Syrian President Hafez Assad in a central square in Raqqa, Syria. Hafez Al-Assad ordered the massacre of up to 30,000 citizens by the armed forces, in the face of an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC, File)

The Brotherhood Starts Anew in Syria

by Raphaël Lefèvre | Aug 19, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

While the Egyptian Brotherhood makes global headlines and Tunisia’s Ennahda Party struggles to remain in power, very little is publicly known about the state of Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood. In recent weeks, much has been made of the decrease in the group’s influence...