Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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In this December 13, 2009 file photo, Iraqi laborers work at the Rumaila oil refinery, near the city of Basra. (AP Photo/Nabil Al-Jurani)

Like a Bull in the Iraqi Oil Market

by Andrés Cala | Aug 16, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

Global oil production champions are not facing a pretty picture this decade. This comes mostly as a result of North American incremental supplies that have surprised even the most bullish, at least according to bellwether forecasts. So why did the Organization of Oil...

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In this July 13, 2013, file photo, Kurds hold a banner that reads “government, take steps” during a protest in Ankara, Turkey. Kurdish rebels on Friday gave Turkey a “final warning” to take steps that would move forward peace talks aimed at ending a 30-year old conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The Kurdistan Workers Party, which is known as PKK and has been fighting Turkey for autonomy, declared a cease-fire in March and began withdrawing fighters from Turkey in May as part of peace efforts initiated last year.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, File)

Prospects for Kurdish Peace

by Nicholas Birch | Aug 8, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

Things are looking good for the Kurds. In Iraq, the region they control is a relative haven of peace and prosperity. In Syria, they are building a semi-autonomous entity in the northeast of the country. Later this month, Kurdish leaders from Turkey, Syria, Iraq and...

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A Syrian carries a revolution flag during a Friday protest in Aleppo, Syria, where young people and children sang songs against Bashar Assad and the Syrian regime, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012.(AP Photo/Virginie Nguyen Hoang)

Against All Odds

by Maryam Saleh | Aug 3, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

Every Saturday, a group of women in Salamia, a city in western Syria, meet to discuss the events of the past week in relation to the two-year uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad. The women, who oppose the Syrian government, draft a political statement...

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Libyan protesters shout slogans during a demonstration on the Algeria Square to demand the removal of arms and the evacuation of unofficial armed groups and the implementation of the General National Congress (GNC)’s decision on July 7, 2013 in the Libyan capital Tripoli. Source: AFP Photo/Mahmud Turkia

A Law unto Themselves

by Jason Pack and Haley Cook | Jul 17, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

Like its revolutionary neighbor, post-Mubarak Egypt, post-Gaddafi Libya is characterized by continual upheavals in which elected officials are frequently forced to resign. In June, Libya’s General National Congress (GNC) elected Nouri Abusahmain as their new...

Freedom, Then and Now

by Malik Al-Abdeh | Jul 6, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

“Freedom for an Oxford don . . . is a very different thing from freedom for an Egyptian peasant,” said that most eminent of Oxford dons, Isaiah Berlin. Is he right? Does the Egyptian peasant demand a different sort of freedom than that of an English professor? At no...

Media ID: 55304859
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A view of the Euphrates river during sunset in Raqqa province, east Syria, May 15, 2013. (REUTERS/Hamid Khatib)

Trouble Downstream

by Mark Zeitoun | Jun 7, 2013 | The Majalla Magazine

While the fighting in Syria rages on, another threat to its people is steadily growing—one that may worsen the struggles of today and haunt the entire region tomorrow: thirst. Specifically, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, waterways that have been at the heart of the...