خلق الحوار. التأثير على السياسة.
Generating Dialogue. Impacting Policy.
A trip to Iraqi Kurdistan last week, my first since the abortive referendum on independence there in October 2017, revealed a political landscape at once utterly different and eerily familiar.
Fikra Forum
A little-publicized fact about Iran is its ethnic diversity: though Turks and Persians are the largest ethnic groups within Iran, Iran’s eight major non-Persian ethnicities represent approximately half of the country’s total population. Yet since the Pahlavi monarchy’s creation of the modern Iranian nation-state in 1936, the rulers in Tehran have imposed a brutal chauvinistic system based on the supremacy of the Persian ethnicity and of the Shiite faith. This policy continued after the 1979 revolution, when hardline theocrats seized power to create the current ‘Islamic Republic.’
Fikra Forum
Algerian authorities have sent a clear message that they are seriously considering implementing the promised reforms Bouteflika mentioned in his most recent letter. Furthermore, they have tried to keep things under control to help foster the environment necessary for that inevitable transition, the nature of which still sparks disagreements between the different parties.
In the wake of the multiple Arab uprisings since the Tunisian fruit seller Muhammad Bouazizi’s heroic act of self-immolation, few instances of democracy have actually emerged. Since 2011, many Arabs have looked back nostalgically at the ‘good old days’ of pre-Arab Spring dictatorships, when daily bread, safety, and stability seemed assured.
Fikra Forum
After U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s last visit to the Middle East, Cairo has attempted to appear aligned with Gulf States’ efforts against the Iranian regime, at least rhetorically. However, Egypt’s apparent reluctance to becoming deeply involved was highlighted by the Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz’s announcement that Egypt was likely to send a vice-minister in contrast to the participation of ministers from most other participating Arab states.
Fikra Forum
Since 2009, the Algerian government has attempted to prevent illegal emigration from its borders by introducing punitive measures against those who try to leave. Nevertheless, the country's deteriorating economic situation continues to push youths to flee toward Europe on “boats of death."
