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MENASource

Oct 17, 2017

Post referendum hangovers: The local aspects

By Sardar Aziz

As Tip O’Neill coined it, “all politics is local.” Accordingly, the local dimension of the Kurdistan referendum is a core aspect, but underplayed as the news focuses on regional and international repercussions. The internal political moves that led up to the referendum and the referendum’s results will define KRG politics in the near future, but […]

Iraq

MENASource

Oct 16, 2017

The UK’s balancing act between security, financial interest, and human rights

By Dalia Rabie

The United Kingdom has long employed a carrot and stick technique when dealing with Egypt, threatening to suspend aid and economic or military dealings in response to the country’s deteriorating human rights situation. However, such ultimatums are often fleeting, as the UK government places its own short-term interests over improvements in Egypt’s human rights record. […]

North Africa United Kingdom

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Oct 12, 2017

Women’s rights in Morocco: Balancing domestic and international law

By Leila Hanafi and Danielle Hites

Despite Morocco’s many legal advances in women’s rights, its lack of effective implementation and the existence of legislative loopholes undermines its reputation as an open, tolerant, and progressive country. In recent months, Morocco’s human rights record has come under the scrutiny of international organizations, notably the UN Human Rights Council latest UPR. Morocco’s questionable human […]

Human Rights Morocco

MENASource

Oct 11, 2017

Behind the US-Turkey visa row

By Adham Sahloul

On Sunday, the Trump Administration suspended non-immigrant visas for Turkish citizens. Students, patients seeking American medical treatment, tourists, and business travelers from Turkey will be denied entry until further notice. A previous argument indicated that US President Donald Trump is closing America’s doors to the world—be it with travel bans for mostly Muslim-majority countries, a […]

Turkey

MENASource

Oct 11, 2017

The limits of democratization in Morocco

By Dr. Nabeel Khoury

The demonstrations, police repression, and continued violence in al-Hoceima in the northern Rif region of Morocco bring back not only the rebellious past of that region, but also memories among Moroccans of Hassan II’s repression—the so-called years of lead. The events also bring the country full circle back to the beginning of the Arab uprising […]

Democratic Transitions Morocco

MENASource

Oct 6, 2017

A difficult life in Mosul Post-ISIS

By Mustafa Habib

When the extremist group known as the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) was expelled from the northern city of Mosul, locals there were happy. But now, not so much, says Qassim Badran, a former employee of the local power department. The government stopped paying his salary back in 2014 when the Islamic State, or IS, […]

Iraq Terrorism

MENASource

Oct 4, 2017

A way forward for devolving local power in Libya?

By Elissa Miller and Andrea Taylor

Despite the signing of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) in Skhirat in 2015, the political situation in Libya appears no closer to being resolved. Indeed, there is now a widening consensus within Libya and among concerned states that the LPA must be amended. Over the last two years, cleavages within Libya deepened amid exacerbating interference […]

Democratic Transitions Libya

MENASource

Sep 27, 2017

After the referendum: Negotiation is still possible

By Harith Hasan

Monday’s referendum in Kurdistan resulted in a situation whereby all parties lack good options. To be sure, Masoud Barzani, the leader of Kurdistan Region Government (KRG), achieved some immediate political gains. He managed to mobilize his base by calling for and conducting the referendum despite international objections. In doing so, he strengthened his political stance […]

Iraq

MENASource

Sep 25, 2017

Midwife to Kurdistan

By Michael D. Barbero

Once the United States fully committed to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), the ultimate demise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria was never in question. The issue was what to do the ‘day after’ ISIS: specifically, how to transition to a post-ISIS Middle East and to confront the enduring sectarian issues and ethnic […]

Iraq

MENASource

Sep 22, 2017

Gaza Jihadists undermine Egypt-Hamas cooperation

By Ahmed Salem

Even the most pessimistic political leaders in Hamas could not have foreseen the repercussions of the involvement of Gazan Salafi jihadists in an Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) operation targeting an Egyptian security checkpoint at al-Barth (south of Rafah in Sinai) on July 7, 2017. The timing is critical because Hamas-Egyptian relations are experiencing […]

Extremism Middle East