Policy Analysis

Since I started researching and polling public opinion in Iraq in 2003, I cannot remember more interesting findings than the ones from the recent nationwide survey conducted a few weeks ago. In general - and as a rule since 2003 - hundreds of previous quantitative and qualitative studies have shown

Depending upon whom you talk to, anywhere from six to sixteen ethnic groups constitute the Syrian population, with the main six groups being: Sunni Muslim; Shiite Muslim (Alawite and Ismaili); Christian; Druze; Kurd; Circassian; and the stateless Palestinian refugees and their descendants. The Christians are not foreign to the Syrian

May 5, 2017 A few decades ago, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq were culturally rich and diverse societies, with distinct national identities that acknowledged their pluralism. For much of the twentieth century the Egyptian flag was green with a white crescent encircling three white stars. A relic of Ottoman times, the

March 20, 2017 On December 11, a massive explosion shattered St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasia, central Cairo, claiming the lives of more than 25 worshipers and wounding scores of others. The event cast even more anxiety and strain over the situation of Egypt’s Copts, which has been volatile and troubled

March 20, 2017 On December 11, an Islamic State bomb targeting St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo’s Abbassia district killed 25 Egyptian Christians. According to the official investigation, the suicide bomber was an Egyptian citizen named Abu Abdullah al-Masri, or Mahmud Shafiq. Following that attack, a stolen truck drove through a

March 6, 2017 On January 24, during a speech for National Police Day, President Sisi – to everyone’s surprise – brought up the issue of the high divorce rate in Egypt and its dangerous impact on family security and stability, calling for an amendment of divorce laws. According to Sisi’s

February 7, 2016 When the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) stormed northern Iraq and took over Mosul in the summer of 2014, it ran a parallel campaign of genocide against the minorities of the Nineveh Plains. For many of these groups, including Christians and Yezidis, this was the

The New York Times this fall published an article entitled “‘I Live in a Lie’: Saudi Women Speak Up.” The piece portrays life as a Saudi woman living under a system that forbids women from basic pursuits such as traveling, attending college, and accessing health care without the permission of

In this era, a political observer will not have to look towards the statements coming out of Tel Aviv to learn the nature of Israeli-Egyptian cooperation.

While at first sight appealing, the notion of moderate Islam constitutes an undue concession to the argument that individuals and societies who hold Islam as part of their faith defined primarily by their religious affiliation.

On the shore of Nice’s Promenade des Anglais, where July’s Bastille Day attack killed 85 people, a photograph of a woman removing a layer of clothes with French police officers standing over her went viral. The image exposed the irony of a country that classifies itself as a “secular” republic

April 11, 2016 The “Declaration” presumably issued by Alawite notables and broadly covered by international media is a historic statement, irrespective of its political implications. While it commands international engagement, both to highlight its positive aspects and to invite its authors to expand on the less positive, it particularly ought

March 17, 2016 I came to the United States in the mid-1980s. It was the age of multiculturalism. The color was rainbow, and the country was reconciling itself with the fact that it was made up of different strokes. My name, accent, and physique indicated that I was from the

March 10, 2016 “It is a religion that raises us up, makes us more loving and giving citizens of our country.” With these words, many Muslim African Americans have connected with their ancestors’ contributions to civil rights movements and the embedding of the principles of justice and equality in American

The fifth anniversary of the Syrian uprising against Bashar al-Assad's government will be commemorated in a few weeks with yet another round of diplomatic attempts at forging a political solution. The Syrian crisis has killed hundreds of thousands, injured and displaced millions, and destroyed much of the country's infrastructure. Facing

A real national commonwealth demands an authentic national narrative that recognizes the multiplicity of cultural, religious, and social foundations, but the courageous political leadership needed to embrace this inclusive approach has yet to emerge.

Islam offers both Christians and Jews a broad scope of religious freedoms and protections, and minority rights are also considered a religious and moral obligation.

Moderation would erode the occupation's raison d'etre by helping Palestinians and Israelis see their overlapping goals, and a good starting point would be mutual recognition.

Rather than remaining bystanders, moderate Muslims need to join forces in recognition that their religion and its central texts have been hijacked by a small minority for political ends.

The fact that it took Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly (CA) six months to draft the preamble to Tunisia’s new constitution is indicative of the document’s controversial nature; few debates have proven to be more divisive within the constitution’s drafting committee than the preamble’s references to Tunisia’s “Arab-Islamic identity.” As the first