Middle East

Ebram Louis and the Contested Nature of Coptic Disappearances

By Jayson Casper

Maryam Milad disappeared in 2012. Last seen in the church of St. Anthony in Shubra, her father believes his now eighteen year old daughter has been kidnapped and perhaps married off to a Salafi Muslim somewhere. Police, he says, have been uncooperative.

Top News: Morsi Refuses to Recognize Egypt Court Due to Try Him; Judges Recuse Themselves

Egypt’s deposed president Mohamed Morsi has refused to recognize a court due to try him next week, declining to delegate lawyers to defend him over murder allegations. Judges presiding in an ongoing trial of Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohamed Badie and co-defendants on charges of incitement of murder have also recused themselves from the case.

Debating Federalism in Yemen

By Rafat Al-Akhali

The Southern Movement in Yemen, known as Southern Hirak, is closer than ever before to achieving a negotiated resolution that addresses at least some of its demands. Capitalizing on Southern grievances following the 1994 civil war in Yemen, Hirak established itself as a protest movement in 2007 demanding to address many rights-based issues in the […]

The Week in Egypt – October 28, 2013

By Amira Mikhail

Catch up on the latest out of Egypt every week, with analysis, news updates, photos, videos, and more.

Working Together to Mitigate the Sinai Threat

By Zack Gold

In the early days of Egypt’s 2011 uprising, the nationwide collapse of the police unleashed in Sinai a volatile mix of disgruntled Bedouin, opportunistic smugglers, and ambitious Salafi-jihadis. In August of that year, the latter carried out a complex cross-border attack against Israeli civilians and soldiers. They killed eight Israelis.  More worrisome, the attack and […]

Syria’s Armed Opposition: Updates from the Field

After a nearly three year conflict, at least 115,000 killed and millions displaced, the Syrian civil war rages, pitting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad against a fragmented armed opposition including the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and others who oppose his rule. Over the last year, the makeup of this armed opposition has shifted to […]

Yemen’s Final Stretch

By Danya Greenfield

“No one wants a real state,” Dr. Mohammed al-Mutawakel intoned, gathering attention from around the table where his family gathered for lunch on the Eid holiday.

Observations on Egypt’s Protest Law

By Yussef Auf

It is probably no exaggeration to say that modern Egyptians are, of all the peoples in the world, the most prone to demonstrating and protests. Through continued demonstrations, Egyptians significantly altered their political reality and brought about significant changes, to the extent that they were able to overthrow two political regimes in less than three […]

It’s Time for a New Strategy in Syria

By Faysal Itani

Advocates of US military action in Syria and substantial support for the armed opposition have lost the argument in Washington. At the very least, they have lost the full attention of President Barack Obama, which they enjoyed briefly after the August 21 chemical weapons attack.