Group items tagged

This article is a reflection of the events at Cairo's Tahrir Square. By showing videos and photos of the revolution it really solidifies the image of what the conditions were like at this time, even after the protests have ended.

This article is a reflection of the events at Cairo's Tahrir Square. By showing videos and photos of the revolution it really solidifies the image of what the conditions were like at this time, even after the protests have ended.

Although slavery has been abolished for years, forced labor has since taken its place. In a recent report, 240 Brazilian companies were caught employing people in slave-like conditions between May 2013 and May 2015. The companies were associated with clothing sweatshops, farming and cattle ranching, timber and charcoal production, and construction. These people work seven days a week without pay and had no running water or toilets

This article discusses the media controls that Saudi Arabia put into place in order to avoid political revolutions like the ones in Tunisia and Egypt. It also discusses an attempted protest started via Facebook that was never actualized.

This article discusses the media controls that Saudi Arabia put into place in order to avoid political revolutions like the ones in Tunisia and Egypt. It also discusses an attempted protest started via Facebook that was never actualized.

US general Philip Breedlove is worried that the Syrian Refugees who are being dispersed throughout Europe and to the United States are causing the terror group of ISIS to "spread like cancer". He blames the Russian bombing in the name of Assad for causing this because civilians are forced to leave their land and are further pushed toward no other choice but joining ISIS.

This article looks at negative stereotypes and consequences of improper representation of women in media in the Middle East. It also focuses on alternative media such as Youtube, and how sometimes platforms like this can be a more beneficial platform for women in media.

This article looks at negative stereotypes and consequences of improper representation of women in media in the Middle East. It also focuses on alternative media such as Youtube, and how sometimes platforms like this can be a more beneficial platform for women in media.

This article and video by Adam Gallagher discusses the election in Tunisia, and the importance of the media during a period of democratization like the one they were experiencing. I thought that this article was particularly valuable because it not only focused on the issues and problems that the media was perpetuation, but also positive actions that the media was taking.

This article and video by Adam Gallagher discusses the election in Tunisia, and the importance of the media during a period of democratization like the one they were experiencing. I thought that this article was particularly valuable because it not only focused on the issues and problems that the media was perpetuation, but also positive actions that the media was taking.

If Islamic State and al-Qaida's Nusra Front lose control of their strongholds in Syria, Bashar Assad's army will likely supply the boots on the ground to supplant them, with help from Russian air strikes and Iranian and Hezbollah forces.

"The Saudis have initiated a major campaign to undermine Iran's ally Hezbollah, which they believe is vulnerable today. Riyadh is likely to have considerable but not complete success. It's a characteristically risky strategy. The Saudis branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization earlier this year and then persuaded their Gulf Cooperation Council allies to do the same on March 2. Then Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef pressed a summit of Arab interior ministers to join in lambasting Hezbollah in Tunis in early March. The Arab League formally agreed to label Hezbollah a terrorist group at a Foreign Ministerial in Cairo later in the month. Only Iraq and Lebanon abstained. "

The conflicting interests of the US in Syria continued. Turkey hates the Kurds, but the US is using them to fight ISIS, despite them being terrorists in the eyes of their ally. This makes it sound like Erdogan is growing defiant and may provoke action by the US.

Barack Obama lands in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the U.S. alliance with the Mideast powerhouse is being questioned on both sides like never before.

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. 

Arab states have began to jump on board offering support to the coalition against ISIS. UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon have recently voiced their support. Turkey, the only Arab member of NATO has voiced their lack of support in the coalition thus far. Saudi, the home to major religious cities, feels like a direct threat to ISIS and have made it clear that they will be playing a major role in the war against the Islamic State. UAE allegedly initiated bombings from Egyptian bases on Libya due to islamic militia takeovers of major cities and institutions. Arab states along with France, Germany, and Britain have agreed to form a "coordinated military campaign." Bringing in Assad from Syria is somewhat crucial, but the coalition is hesitant due to the loss of the Assad Regime's legitimacy over the past years of civil strife. Official plans of attack are still sketchy, but are definitely in the works. The coalition of states have made it clear that in order to tackle this ISIS threat, they must band together to dynamically exterminate the Islamic State from all angles.

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.

This was an article that informed the reader of how these Egyptian artists are forced to get creative after the governmental backlash on street art. The government knows that these murals are inspiring hope, so they do not like or encourage the art. The artists are now doing things like drawing massive murals, and than making a small portion of the mural what they are trying to say, or doing their street art quickly because it is dangerous to be doing.

This article details were certain countries, that are most affected by the Syrian conflict, stand within the conflict and how they would like to solve the issue. 

Though many of the youth leaders who participated in the 2011 revolution are in prison, youth-driven political campaigns will continue under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. A new movement that has risen, called the "We have had enough" campaign has several demands from the Egyptian youth. These include holding accountable anyone who was involved in killing any Egyptian, a debate about implementing separation of powers, setting minimum and maximum wages, and amending the protest law. These demands have led the state to release some of the prisoners of conscience, in an attempt to prevent any chaos before parliamentary elections. A similar movement, called the Dhank movement, arose in protest of the living conditions for the poorest Egyptians. The leaders of this movement encourage protests like refusing to pay electric bills because of a lack of service. The activists describe the need for the Dhank movement coming from Sisi's poor treatment of the lower class that included removal of subsidies and raising prices of commodities. The "We have had enough" campaign spokesman says they insist on the implementation of 14 human rights amendments. He ends by reiterating the consistent suspicion the youth groups have of the state and a lack of confidence that their demands will be met. This shows that there is no clear strategy or realistic possibility to ending the tension between youth groups and the state.

This artifact is from Syrian writer, Mohamed Raouf Bachir, and discusses the the feelings a refugee experiences when fleeing from the hellish Middle East into a place where there is uncertainty of acceptance, but somewhere that still feels like freedom.

In this news article on the BBC, a PKK commander claims that while the both sides leadership desires to move forward with the peace process, the peace talks with Turkey are in danger of turning into conflict. Cemil Bayik, a PKK commander in the Qandil mountains, says that the Turkish government's treatment of Kobane shows that it still views the PKK and the Kurdish people as a bigger threat than ISIS. Meanwhile, a Turkish government official, Yasin Aktay, vice-chairman of the ruling AK Party, gave a statement saying that the PKK and the Kurds are using current time of instability to try to "upset the status quo", and try to set up a system of self-governance like Iraqi Kurdish groups. This article ends with dire warnings by both sides. Aktay warns that in the coming weeks and months, Turkey will actively try to prevent a "power grab" by the PKK in Kurdish towns. Meanwhile, Cemil Bayik says that unless the Turkish government changes its policies, the conflict between the Kurds and Turkey will continue, asserting that "if necessary the Kurds will fight against the Islamic State and the Turkish army."

A PKK commander tells the BBC that the peace process with Turkey is in danger of turning into conflict.