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Fikra Forum

Fikra Forum

خلق الحوار. التأثير على السياسة.

Generating Dialogue. Impacting Policy.

Fikra Forum

Iran’s Military Propaganda: Failures and Successes

Firas Elias

September 10, 2018 — While propaganda plays a major role in forming local and international public opinion, it may also be deployed as a tool of “soft deterrence,” designed to tilt the calculations and military strategies of other countries in another country’s favor. Iran’s financial investment in its media presence, with dozens of satellite channels broadcasting in a number of languages, demonstrates the seriousness with which the state takes this form of propaganda.

Fikra Forum

Ayatollah Khamenei: Shifting from Velayat-e Faqih to Military Control

Frzand Sherko

September 7, 2018 — Almost forty years after its inception, the project of the Islamic Republic has failed. Major protests in a number of cities and regions have already led the government to re-evaluate its political strategy: while the government can limit the protests’ growth to some extent through religious prescriptions and by force, it cannot stop the movement entirely.

Assad’s Law 10: Reshaping Syria’s Demographics

Ibrahim Abu Ahmad

September 17, 2018 — One important measure that threatens any Syrian that is not explicitly pro-Assad is Law No. 10, which provides the act of shifting demographics in Syria with an appearance of legitimacy. Locals have expressed their helplessness in the face of Law No. 10’s wide reach, as they have no means to refute it.

Fikra Forum

Strength in Dialogue: A Case for the KRG Parliament

Sardar Aziz

September 12, 2018 — While Kurdish parliamentary elections are scheduled for September 30, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is facing a number of crises—political, economic, and more broad social issues. Emphasizing the role of parliament and ensuring its strength—rather than shifting to a form of government that provides increasing powers to the president—is one key way of ensuring that the negative trends in Kurdish politics are reversed.

  • New Saudi Views of Jews—and of Israel
  • Assad's Law 10: Reshaping Syria's Demographics
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Fikra Forum is an initiative of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The views expressed by Fikra Forum contributors are the personal views of the individual authors, and are not necessarily endorsed by the Institute, its staff, Board of Directors, or Board of Advisors.​​

منتدى فكرة هو مبادرة لمعهد واشنطن لسياسة الشرق الأدنى. والآراء التي يطرحها مساهمي المنتدى لا يقرها المعهد بالضرورة، ولا موظفيه ولا مجلس أدارته، ولا مجلس مستشاريه، وإنما تعبر فقط عن رأى أصاحبها