Arab Spring

Are autocratic Arab states the worst enemies of Palestinians?

Except for Arab autocrats aligned with Western powers, much of the Middle East supports the Palestinian cause, according to several opinion polls.

UAE-Bahrain deal with Israel represents a tiny minority of the Arab world

The Arab world's silent majorities see the UAE-Bahrain move to normalise relations with the Israel as a betrayal to the Palestinian cause.

How Qatar fits into Libya’s uncertain future

Qatar's ability to advance its interests in Libya will be tied to Turkey's success.

Bashar al Assad’s social media complex

How a Syrian-Canadian professor of international relations and Mid East politics navigated the Assad regime's schizophrenic attitude toward social media.

Jordan dissolves its Muslim Brotherhood branch

In keeping with a regional crackdown, Jordan has been tightening restrictions on the Brotherhood over the last few years, forbidding their public rallies, arresting vocal government dissenters and shutting down offices.

Is Egypt’s Praetorian state buckling under its own weight?

With Sisi at the helm, the Egyptian military has tightened its grip over the economy and politics, but the president’s hold over the country is still a matter of debate.

Egypt: from revolution to coup to crisis, a timeline

Inspired by the Tunisian revolt, the 2011 movement in Egypt started as a revolution, eventually triggering a crisis that makes experts question if the state has failed. We trace the protests, political turnovers and waves of repression since 2011:

The erasure of Morsi's legacy is an attempt to scrub democracy from Egypt

The late Mohamed Morsi's rise to power represented an end to Egypt's kleptocratic free-for-all.

How new protests in Syria are pushing Assad to the brink

Experts say Syria's economic woes could weaken Bashar al Assad's military stranglehold over the country.

Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak dies at 91

Mubarak ruled Egypt for 30 years until he was ousted following mass protests against his rule in 2011.

Iraq protests swell with youth angry at slow pace of reform

While violence in protests seems to have abated somewhat calls for change remains.

Soleimani’s death proves the US has friends in Syria, but it’s not the YPG

The most outspoken celebratory messages for the killing of the controversial Iranian general came from the Turkey-backed Syrian National Amy, while the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces remain silent.