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This article discusses the growing suspicions that have risen from the Muslim Brotherhood. According to many, the Muslim Brotherhood has an active influence on the Obama Administration.

Ironically, the Muslim Brotherhood has come to be seen by some in the State Department as a force of moderation in contemporary Islamist politics. You should look at the recent New York Times op-ed criticizing Sisi for cracking down on the Brotherhood.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is on a tour of the Middle East rallying support for the fight against the IS. Egypt is part of a 10 state Middle Eastern coalition dedicated to eradicating the IS. Kerry said Egypt has a, "Key role," in defeating the IS due to their success in dealing with Sinai jihadists, he also acknowledged that Egypt is the cultural and intellectual capitol of the Middle East implying that they can resist IS's influence.

This article accentuates the "Age of Proxy Wars" in the Middle East. While Syria and Libya are the 2 most known proxy situations, the article illuminates other states involved as well. We know already about UAE, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, which this article also brings up, but new information suggests that Bahrain and Kuwait are supporting sides of the regional war as well. While these nations think they're doing their part to support their values, these proxy wars are actually fostering further extremism since people supporting each side do not directly suffer the consequences. The article states that the metastasizing of these jihadist groups is grave threat to US national security, and the US must intervene in order to solve this crisis. The author says the US needs to improve their performance in donor cordination, funding the right groups, as well as be more aggressive in working directly with elections, uncovering networks of money and influence. He says rather than the conduction of elections, we must focus on the nature of politics in general, curbing corruption and embedding sectarian democratic values in their political sphere.

A former senior official at the U.S. embassy in Cairo describes how Sisi's background is shaping his approach to domestic politics, counterterrorism, Israel, and other issues. From the way Sisi is described, his main priority is the domestic economy. He knows that without creating domestic stability through lowering unemployment and generating more capital, he cannot remain in power. In addition, it appears that Sisi is a strong believer of military influence. He has a strategic plan of cooperating with great powers to grow Egypt's reputation. Sisi's plan to create a strong state, while cooperating with other strong states and focusing on military power are all evidence of his political realist tendencies.

This is an article that depicts the major concerns of U.S. Secretary of State and others, regarding the emerging deal between the United States and Iran's nuclear grant. For example, preserving Iran's nuclear potentials could influence other countries in the region to match Iran's capability.

The upheaval in Yemen has made it harder for the US to monitor terrorist activities in the area, and is allowing AQAP and similar organizations to exert influence and mobilize itself. The UN security council has also placed concern that AQAP has benefited from the deterioration in Yemen's central government.

The distribution of political mindedness is heavily mixed in the Gaza Strip. Other organizations in the area are also influencing the movements of people in the area.

Providences of Russia are now under threat of ISIS. Russia has been able to stabilize areas such as Chechnya, but now their efforts may be in vain.

Counter efforts have been made by Iran as the country expands its influence in Iraq. In late November 2014, Iran launched airstrikes in eastern Iraq to push back ISIS militants. Since then, Iran and Iraq have been involved in a series of proxy wars as Iran furthers its influence over major Shiite groups in Iraq.

This article reveals the religious influence as to why the fighting is going on between ISIS and Arab nations right now. Prophet Muhammad mentions particular locations where fighting will occur between Christians and Muslims which will be the precursor to the apolcalypse.

Jordan officials killed 7 suspected jihadist militants whom were supposedly planning to blow up civilian and military targets in the country. Jordan, backed by the U.S., has been amping up the crackdown on ISIL influence flooding from Syria.

Gives insight on the confrontation between the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties. Describes the Brotherhood as using their influences in the "electoral arena" because they can win elections. Also poses compromise as a question for the future and implies compromise wont happen due to all parties being very confrontational.

Compiled by faculty members at the German University in Cairo, this working paper series addresses the effect that watsa has on competence and morality in Middle Eastern economics and society. The authors define watsa as, "the intervention of a patron in favor of a client to obtain benefits and/or resources from a third party." In simpler terms it is a system of social networking in Arab culture in which family and social ties play a significant role in the attainment of economic advantages and resources, largely in the hiring process in businesses and organizations. A person applying for a job seeks out watsa to increase their chances of getting hired. Comparable to nepotism and cronyism, but is not restricted to friends and associates, watsa can also involve strangers linked through some social web of people. Watsa runs somewhat parallel to a Chinese concept of guanxi, based on Confucian ethics and focusing on strong collective ties. While guanxi is a part of Chinese ethics it actually defies Muslim ethical values, which advocates hiring the person most capable. In a Jordanian survey, 87% of respondents want watsa eradicated. While we know that unemployment in the Arab region is widespread, we can assume that this motivates people to do anything they can to improve their chances of obtaining a job. However, the practice of watsa as a whole is actually degrading the economic systems in the Arab sates even further. The article explains the linkage between watsa and poor job performance, economic decline, and the festering of injustice and frustration among the masses in Arab countries.

This looks super interesting, but I can't get the link to open. Thanks for writing a thorough summary of it!

This is Keizers home page, which included a lot of photos of his work, and more specific things like his inspiration, influences, media and design philosophy. I found it interesting that his design philosophy was, "visual imagery that is thought provoking,satire,awakening,open ended with an emphasis on universal threads and concepts that we share collectively as a race". Insinuating more emphasis on race than a country as a whole.