Group items tagged

The United States and Canada are cutting back on oil production beginning 2015. The high cost of production in the two countries does now allow it to compete with Saudi Arabia oil and other countries with lower costs as market prices begin to fall

Rumors are beginning to stir among anti-ISIS groups that the terror group is beginning to experience unrest and a stir in the ranks. Dutch ISIS members were said to be slaughtered by local ISIS command in Iraq. The story is said to be untrue but the question remains as to why did this story surface in the fist place.

Oct. 22. As the Egyptian government's crackdown on dissent broadened over the last year, university campuses have increasingly been in the crosshairs as one of the last remaining spaces for dissent. Despite efforts to quell political activity on college campuses, there have been at least 58 protests on college campuses since the first week of classes at the beginning of October. As campuses like Cairo University crack down on security and bans on political activity, Egyptian authorities are also attempting to control the activities of the youth. Sisi reinstated the law of appointing university presidents. The administration knows its weakness is the youth population, since all its support comes from the older generation of Egyptians. However, although he acknowledges there grievances, he basically tells them to stay out of the politics that should be reserved for the older generation. By taking this tone with the Egyptian youth, Sisi risks alienating the population and pushing them to join back in alliances between secular and religous groups.

Women in Saudi Arabia have many laws and guidelines by which they are forced to abide by. This video interviews a woman named Sarah Birke who gives insight into what she has witnesses as a correspondent in the middle east. Burke discusses laws that women are forced to follow as well as the changes that are slowing beginning to take hold, specifically in regards to Saudi women driving.

Women in Saudi Arabia have many laws and guidelines by which they are forced to abide by. This video interviews a woman named Sarah Birke who gives insight into what she has witnesses as a correspondent in the middle east. Burke discusses laws that women are forced to follow as well as the changes that are slowing beginning to take hold, specifically in regards to Saudi women driving.

This is an interesting article concerning Minister Naftali Bennet. He will empowering Eastern Jewish Cultural Studies within the general curriculum. This would be a way to de-stigmatize Judaism and help with interfaith commuication

This article begins by illuminating the regional democracy assistance cuts that are dropping from $459.2 million to $298.3 million It explains that the Bush Administration began the quest for democracy in the Middle East, and the Obama administration has only continued in his footsteps. The author presents the viewpoint that the U.S. approach to Arab democratization has been in the form of "ad-hoc crisis management" rather than "large scale reform initiatives." Promoting democracy in the form of democratic politics are insufficient, elections and political parties have consistently proved to weather away and fester further civil strife. Consequently, the article proposes a new approach to the region conflict. This approach calls for "systematic reforms" focusing on basic institutions such as the civil service sector, justice and law enforcement, and the military's role in governance. The idea is that addressing these lacking departments in the arab world will eventually pave the way to a smoother democratic transition. 

Completely horrifying.

This is such a controversial topic. I saw a reference to it recently (was it possibly something that was brought up in the Bill Maher/Ben Affleck dust-up?) that pointed out that the practice is almost unheard of outside of central and northeastern Africa, with a few small pockets in Iraq and the Gulf.

A brief overview of the beginnings of the Baath Party and summarization of where it stands today.

Russia claims that the arms deal it has with Syrian President Assad was made before the Syrian civil war started and simply just carried out the deal throughout the war. On the other hand, Assad states that they signed agreements at the beginning of the war, maybe a bit earlier. 

This week, the country's judicial system came under fresh scrutiny after refusing to reinstate 138 state prosecutors who recently graduated from law school, but whose parents lacked university degrees. The September 2013 ruling is an example of the institutionalized classism in Egypt that many are unhappy with. Due to the policies of Sisi, the Dhank movement arose in protest by the poor who demand to be heard. Although this movement has been previously associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and thus not very popular, it could be the beginning of a broader mobilization of the poor in Egyptian politics. The head of the Garbage Collector's Union warned that if the president ignores these movements, there could be a "revolution of the hungry."

Is the "Arab Spring" perhaps actually the early stages of such a collapse or the beginning of a shift toward a more sustainable future?

Turkey has announced that, along with the US, they will be training some 2,000 Syrian rebels. Tensions have been rising between Syria and Turkey ever since Turkey went into Syria to retrieve a historical figure and relocate him but they are hoping this move will calm the tensions between the two states. 

The article begins talking about Syrian aircrafts dropping barrel bombs on Islamic State-held areas in the north-east. The bombing killed around 40 people. Although the bombs are crudely made they are very dangerous and deadly as shown throughout recent events in both Syria and Iraq.

Saturday October 11 signalled the start of the new academic year in Egyptian universities, delayed this year by the authorities from September to mid-October to allow them time to prepare their security forces for the expected demonstrations.

Political parties are demanding payments of up to $28,000 for candidates to be included in their electoral lists. This is prohibiting youth groups from having an active role in the formation of the new government. Although the new electoral law gave Copts, women, and people with disabilities the right to be a part of parties' electoral lists, splits and conflicts between parties interferes with the process. There is a consensus in the higher order of politicians that the youth are not prepared to be a part of the political process. Others believe this is an unfair statement. However, the mistake of the youth in the revolution was that they did not take part in the government process at the beginning. They missed their opportunity to fulfill their demands by only aiming to overthrow the regime.

In this Electronic Intifada article, the blatant racism against all Arabs during the Israeli elections is highlighted and examined. Beginning with the motion to amend voting rules, and ending with Netanyahu's highly charged statement, this article points out the rampant hatred exhibited to a group of people making up 20% of Israel's population.

The Nusra Front has been broadenings its borders but also beginning to lose trust/likings of the public. Kidnappings and public killings have been seen more although Nusra does not publicize its acts the way ISIS does