Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the test-fire of a strategic submarine underwater ballistic missile (not pictured), in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on May 9, 2015. Reuters

Khomeini or Kim? Khamenei’s Real Teacher

by Amir Taheri | Sep 1, 2017 | Opinion

According to the initial narrative of the Khomeinist ideology, the “perfect state” which Muslims should aspire was the brief period during which Ali Ibn Abi-Taleb exercised the Caliphate against a background of revolts and civil war. However, it now seems that...

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Naji Salim Hussain al-Ali Metropolitan Police/AP

Who Killed Naji al-Ali?

by Abdulrahman Al-Rashed | Aug 31, 2017 | Opinion

The last time I saw Naji al-Ali, the well-known Palestinian cartoonist, was at a dinner at his place. This was a short while before he was assassinated. Adib Abu Alwan, other mutual friends and I all were at the dinner. We did not necessarily come together...

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Doha, Qatar. (Reuters)

GCC and Qatar’s Withdrawal

by Salman Al-dossary | Aug 31, 2017 | Opinion

This time former Iranian Ambassador to Qatar Abdullah Sehrabi spoke on behalf of the Qatari government, saying Qatar’s emir is willing to withdraw from the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Iranian official didn’t express a point of view or make an analysis but he...

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Five of these seven Harvard students will eventually join Congress. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Getty Images

Dismantling the Dictatorship of the Highly Educated

by Justin Fox | Aug 30, 2017 | Opinion

In the affluent nations of northwestern Europe, people with university educations have taken over politics. Cabinet ministers with fancy degrees are nothing new, but more and more parliamentary seats have been going to college graduates. In some countries, the highly...

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Wavering. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi via Bloomberg

Brexit Is Beginning to Look Like No Brexit

by Leonid Bershidsky | Aug 30, 2017 | Opinion

“Brexit means Brexit,” British politicians have been saying for months. Now it seems like it may not mean anything at all. As the third round of Brexit talks commenced on Monday, it’s absurdly difficult to identify specific changes that would...

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C) receives a gift from Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) in Tehran November 23, 2015. REUTERS/leader.ir/Handout via Reuters

Prospects and Challenges of Russian-Iranian Cooperation in Syria

by Nikolay Khozyainov | Aug 30, 2017 | Opinion

Associate at the Russia and Eurasia programme of Chatham House and senior lecturer at the European University at St.Petersburg Russian military engagement in the Syrian conflict had the direct impact on Moscow’s relations with the Middle Eastern countries. The main...