Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Sde Boker, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. Netanyahu said that Israel would do all it could to keep world powers from striking a “bad and dangerous” deal with Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/David Buimovitch, Pool)

Debate: The Palestinians should withdraw from negotiations

by Khalil Shaheen | Dec 1, 2013 | Debate

It is difficult not to accept claims that the escalation in the Israeli government’s discourse regarding the basis for a negotiated settlement and its settlement activity on the ground are part of an attempt by Prime Minister Netanyahu to derail the ongoing...

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A picture taken on January 14, 2013 in Algiers shows Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika waving to welcome the Emir of the State of Kuwait. (AFP)

Debate: President Bouteflika will leave a positive legacy

by Nabila Ramdani | Nov 18, 2013 | Debate

There is absolutely no doubt that Abdelaziz Bouteflika has become synonymous with a long period of relative stability in Algeria. When he came to power in 1999, the country was racked by a murderous civil war between his government and Islamist factions. By the time...

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Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is seen at the presidential palace in Algiers, in this file picture taken December 11, 2011. (REUTERS/Louafi Larbi/Files)

Debate: President Bouteflika will not leave a positive legacy

by Mohamed Azraqi Farad | Nov 18, 2013 | Debate

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s third term in office is now drawing to a close. The president—may God grant him health—has been practically incapacitated by a chronic illness, and will barely make it to the end of his term in office. Some could even argue that...

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A supporter of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi attempts to speak to Republican Guard soldiers as he reaches through a barb wire barricade as Muslim Brotherhood supporters gather to protest in support of Mursi in front of the Qubba Palace in Cairo, November 8, 2013. (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Debate: Excluding the Brotherhood from power will not help democracy

by Dr. Mohamed Farid Al-Shayyal | Nov 12, 2013 | Debate

The exclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood from the political process in Egypt does not guarantee a process that will lead to a civil state because the military does not practice democracy. One of the basic definitions of civilian rule among political science lecturers...

Debate: Excluding the Brotherhood from power helps democracy

by Majdi Hamdan | Nov 12, 2013 | Debate

If we examine the expression “civil state,” we find that it has a common meaning shared by different cultures and philosophies. In a civil state, the political authority is entrusted to the people, and so there must be a representative of the people within the...

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In this Monday, May 5, 2008 file photo Russian army S-300 air defense missiles move during a final rehearsal of Victory Day parade at Red Square, with St. Basil Cathedral, right in the background, in Moscow. Source: AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev

Debate: Russia can play a major role in the Middle East

by Dr. Tarek Fahmy | Nov 4, 2013 | Debate

Recent developments in the Middle East indicate that the region has not been on Russia’s foreign agenda since Vladimir Putin came to power. But I think that Putin now wants to fill this gap in an attempt to show Russia’s ability to use its influence in conflict zones,...