The Arab Spring Five Years On: Counterrevolution and Fading Euphoria

by Emile Nakhleh As Arab publics reminisce on the fifth anniversary of the 2011 upheavals against their dictatorial regimes, they must feel dismayed and angry at what has transpired since then. The unprecedented euphoria that accompanied the Arab Spring and… Continue Reading

Obama: The Fairy-Tale President?

by John Feffer In fairy tales, the hero makes a wish. After a few trials the wish comes true, and everyone lives happily ever after. But only in this Disney version of fairy tales is wish fulfillment so straightforward.

Bibi, the Failed Peace Process, and the Future of Linkage

by Eli Clifton Just a few days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down with President Obama in the Oval Office to discuss the long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace process and Israel’s ask for $5 billion in annual military aid, the occupying… Continue Reading

John Kerry: We Have a Middle East Strategy

by Derek Davison In a speech in Washington on Wednesday to kick off the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s “Arab World Horizons” project, Secretary of State John Kerry articulated and defended the Obama administration’s Middle East strategy. He described the… Continue Reading

Kumbaya (Not)

by John Feffer In his new film Taxi, Iranian director Jafar Panahi is having a conversation with his young niece. They’re sitting in the cab Panahi is driving. The Iranian government has banned the director from making films, so he’s… Continue Reading