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This author gives an analysis of where the Egyptian youth failed and succeeded in their revolution. He applauds their original motivation: overthrowing the oppressive regime and seeking political freedom. However, he criticizes the movement for not having organized goals with practical implications. Their focus was so set on overthrowing Mubarak that they did not have a plan once that was achieved. As a result, the youth allowed the military to become politicized and enforce their political ideas. The author claims this move set a dangerous precedent for the future and took away the attention of the military from places it was needed. The author claims that by endorsing the army to act militarily against the first civilian elected president of the country, the youth is undermining their original goals. He goes on to explain his suggestions for the Egyptian youth to get back on track and follow through in the remaining phases of the revolution.

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 article basically lays out the faults in US intervention in Libya during the fall of Gaddafi and condemns the US officials for their lack of hindsight in their agenda. The US claimed that they could not "turn a blind eye" to atrocities and human right violations in other countries and to intervene in Libya was a matter of upholding "universal values." After the successful ousting of Gaddafi, the US hypocritically turned their back on the country as a whole, leaving them to pick up the pieces and re-build themselves in the midst of socio-political and economic chaos. The US claims that military intervention is sometimes necessary to address human right violations, but in the case of Libya more violations have occurred as a result of a fallen regime rather than because of its reign. The author basically says that the US should have predicted that short-term intervention strategies achieves nothing without years of sustained support for rebuilding the civil institutions. 

Nearly 1,000 rebel groups exist in Syria as of 2013, none of which have the exact same motives and desires. Jabhat al-Nusra has become very effective but their ties to al-Qaeda make members and citizens weary. Is there a way to rationalize how this civil war may end?

Being terrorist groups, Al Qaeda and ISIS, are sometimes perceived as the same things, but that is not the case. This video brings in motives and other things that separates the 2 groups. Also, some cool facts and things most people do not know are included.

ISIS has huge motivations about the end times that are pushing them forward in their fight for a pure Muslim culture around the world. They believe that two towns in Syria that they now hold as there own are the location for the looming final battle of the apocalypse.

Discusses the stability of Egypt and the dynamic aspect of the confrontation between the government and Brotherhood. Can be tied into a number of controversies of globalization chapters regarding motives for many decisions.

This was an article (originally published by the Independent, however, I found it on their website via my first article from the BBC) by the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence of London. The article suggests, allowing fighters to return home safely and enroll in a De-radicalization program would be more beneficial than current policies of severe punishment (prison, stripping of citizenship, etc.). The authors contend current repercussions for fighters returning to their home countries leave them trapped and isolated and prison sentences often lead to further radicalization. Overall this article really captured my attention in its non-conventional proposal for governments to handle these situations.

This is one likely reason the Saudis have been willing to pump oil at high levels even though that's contributing to low prices. The Saudis publicly cite a business motive, saying they want to maintain their current share of the oil market. But the Saudis are also well aware that low prices mean less money for archrival Iran.

In this article for Al Monitor, a news site launched during the Arab Spring which brands itself as "the pulse of the Middle East", a physician from Hamburg talks about her more than 20 years in the Kurdistan Workers Party in a rare interview.

In this article for Al Monitor, a news site launched during the Arab Spring which brands itself as "the pulse of the Middle East", a physician from Hamburg talks about her more than 20 years in the Kurdistan Workers Party in a rare interview.

Russia has a very strong military presence in Syria. This article goes over five things that are motivating Putin's interest in Syria.

Modern Islamic militancy is varied and complex. Al-Qaeda is as much an ideology or a set of values as a single organisation led by a single leader. The values and ideas, the 'wants', of militants are very varied. Recent Islamic militants have shown many different motivations.

This piece is about the education reform K-12 in Qatar. The program has started to use local education supplies to create a better community attitude toward education. Their have been efforts to create a universal curriculum and higher evaluation and testing. 

Political and social turbulence in the Middle East will continue to foster the rise of terrorist groups, some of which will have the motivation and capability to attack US interests. As the United States looks to address these threats, it will attempt to find a strategy that is both effective and sustainable.

Almost 3% of people in the Middle East are enslaved. Typically the people are trapped by falling for a "work trap." They leave their homes and families because they are promised employment. Upon arriving to work, the employers take everything from them and enslave them.

ABOUT THE AUTHORSharon Buchbinder, RN, Ph.D., is an award-winning professor at Stevenson University and novelist who recently published Obsession, which deals with human trafficking and international kidnapping. Follow her on Twitter at @sbuchbinder. MORE BY THIS AUTHOR In a previous issue of The Islamic Monthly, I examined the pervasiveness of human trafficking in Southeast Asia.