Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55382114
Caption:

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...

Media ID: 55377144
Caption:

A man dressed up in a Lebanese flag attends a demonstration against proposed tax increase, in Beirut. (Alia Haju / REUTERS)

Lebanon: A Nation Postponed

by Eyad Abu Shakra | Jun 22, 2017 | Opinion

As it is well-known, there is a basic difference between an ‘examination’ and a ‘contest’. In the first, all entrants may pass, not so in the second which must end with ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. In schools and universities, examinations are the norm unless there is a...

Media ID: 55373819
Caption:

FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani takes part in a news conference near the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

Iran’s Sham Elections: A Political Version of Ta’azieh

by Amir Taheri | May 12, 2017 | Opinion

In any elections, including the ersatz ones held in Iran, the voter is expected to make his choice on the basis of the candidates’ personality, record and programme. Taking those three factors into account, how might Iranian voters judge the incumbent, Hojat al-Islam...

Media ID: 55372642
Caption:

Former Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event at Canary Wharf in London, Britain, November 26, 2015. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Kremlin Censures Planned Russian Protests, Outlaws Khodorkovsky NGOs

by Asharq Al-Awsat English | Apr 27, 2017 | World

The Kremlin said on Thursday that an opposition protest planned for Saturday was illegal and police would deal with anyone who showed up accordingly. The Open Russia foundation, an organization set up by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has called for big...

Media ID: 55370140
Caption:

Cherry blossoms in early bloom, in Washington. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times

When is politics like a tree?

by Arthur C. Brooks | Mar 26, 2017 | Opinion

If you study and write about happiness as I do, you become attuned to patterns. For instance, when I walk into a workplace, I can usually tell, based on my first few conversations, if the environment is happy or not. And in the past couple of years, I have noticed a...