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By webmaster, on January 23rd, 2012
The Gulf Today, January 22, 2012
In December last year Qatar announced banning the sale of alcohol in The Pearl, a luxurious residential community. This announcement, just like any other announcement coming from Qatar, invited a slew of opposition from both foreign and local media alike.
Speculations and predictions of Islamic takeover of the country and loss of insurmountable amounts of money washed over analysts’ writings. Some deeming this a natural by-product of the situation in Bahrain, others warning of negative implications it might have on Qatar hosting the FIFA World Cup in, yes you said it, 2022. The implications of this decision have been foreseen twelve years into the future. Continue reading Qatar’s dry island
By webmaster, on January 17th, 2012
 Aysha Taryam presenting her book "the opposite of indifference" at Sharjah book-fair. Click on the picture to buy from Amazon The Gulf Today, January 17, 2012
The first leg of the race for the 2012 United States’ presidency has taken off with the primary elections and the politicians’ gloves have officially come off. Although it is too early to make any solid predictions as to which candidate will be nominated for either party so far in the Republican race Mitt Romney’s numbers show he is pushing slightly ahead of the rest.
Romney ticks all the Republican Party boxes. He is a well-connected businessman, has a political background having been Governor of Massachusetts, he ran for the 2008 presidential elections and dare I say he is also a male Caucasian. With the Republican Party struggling to find a solid candidate to go head to head with the Democrats, Romney seems like the obvious choice, only he is not. With Fox News Channel, the Republican Party’s greatest propaganda machine, spewing anti-Romney statements it is safe to say that Romney is not the party’s preferred candidate. Continue reading Democracy resurrects the religious
By webmaster, on January 17th, 2012
The Gulf Today, January 14, 2012
Forty-eight hours after Iran launched advanced uranium enrichment at Fordo, Prof. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, deputy director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was killed early on Wednesday, Jan.11, by a sticky bomb planted on his car. Prof. Ahmadi-Roshan was the fourth Iranian nuclear scientist to be mysteriously assassinated in Tehran in two years.
Several Western officials have told Reuters that Tehran may be right and the hits on Iranian nuclear technicians could be part of a plan by US or Israeli intelligence services — or both — to sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme.
The ‘hawks’ in the USA and Israel have been calling for war and/or covert action since years. They never ceased. A simple look at the positions of the Republican candidates in the current electoral debate would tell you more than books: Continue reading Give peace a chance
By webmaster, on January 14th, 2012
I have had a discussion recently with an eminent colleague, a political science professor at the University of Jerusalem, about what to expect out of this dangerous crisis between Iran and the West. He argued that the core of this crisis is about Iran’s nuclear programme, which many view as breaking the monopoly Israel exerts on the military nuclear technology in the Middle East.
Yet, although they are very worried, he contends, neither Israel nor the USA are ready to strike Iran and harvest the bad consequences of such an aggression.
In my view, this is wishful thinking as is indeed a good deal of the Iranian political discourse, based on a dangerous self-delusion, assuming the West (and Israel) would never dare attack Iran, because Iran is so “powerful” and able to “respond” tit for tat. Continue reading Real world and wishful thinking
By webmaster, on January 7th, 2012
The Gulf Today, December 31, 2011
“May you live in interesting times,” says the old Chinese dictum. These times we are living in are probably a significant sample. 2011 has been certainly one of the most “interesting” years ever lived and witnessed in the Arab world. It was so breathtaking, so surprising, so full of an unexpected concatenation of events that it will go through history referred to as merely… a season… the best at all: the spring! Moreover, even if actually only a handful Arab states were concerned, the change was so striking that a new conviction has appeared among the youth: the change is still coming and it is overlapping, not to say overwhelming the entire Arab nation. This is for the introduction. Continue reading 12 Months of Spring
By webmaster, on December 31st, 2011
The Gulf Today, December 24, 2011
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki stands today at a crossover: history will recall him as either the man who unified and appeased the country after the end of the occupation or the man who installed sectarian divide in the heart of the system.
Even the New York Times — which may be the last to be charged with hostility toward him and his government — wrote in its editorial on Dec.21: “He is showing a greater interest in reprisals against the Sunni minority than in encouraging inclusion.” Continue reading Big manoeuvres for Maliki
By webmaster, on December 24th, 2011
 SNC Chairman Burhan Ghalioun is a prominent opposition figure The Gulf Today, December 17, 2011
The State Department official, Frederic Hof, told Congress on Wednesday that Assad’s repression may allow him to hang on to power but only for a short time. Urging the Syrian opposition to prepare for the day when it takes control of the state in order to prevent chaos and sectarian conflict, he added: “Our view is that this regime is the equivalent of a dead man walking.” Hof compared Syria to North Korea and said it was difficult to determine how much time Assad has left in power but stressed, “I do not see this regime surviving.”
Continue reading Dead Man Walking
By webmaster, on December 18th, 2011
The Gulf Today, December 10, 2011
In a lecture at the Brookings on Friday, Dec.2, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta suggested that all of Israel’s problems in the region can be traced back to its own behaviour. Panetta seemed confident about the US ability to stop Iran before it acquires nuclear weapons. He said: “I want to be clear that Israel can count on three enduring pillars in US policy in the region, all of which contribute directly to the safety and prosperity of the Israeli people. First, our unshakable commitment to Israel’s security. Second, our broader commitment to regional stability. And third, our determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.” Continue reading The standoff of ME peace
By admin, on December 10th, 2011
 Hichem Karoui
The Gulf Today, December 03, 2011
As the US military are proceeding to complete their retreat from Iraq, speculations are going wild about the future of the country, against a background of exploding bombs in Baghdad and renewed security threats. Some policy analysts have already hinted at a potential massive shift in the regional balance of power, with Iran moving toward a more assertive role as a dominant power. Such a role is not much welcome in the neighbourhood, for fears of Iran’s whimsical policies growing into a new status quo hard to change without another costly war that nobody wishes.
The withdrawal from Iraq comes at a time of an overall crisis in the region, over how to deal with Syria (the most reliable ally of Iran), and how to deal with Iran itself. The big question is: would the economic sanctions recently decided against Syria and Iran have enough strength and impact to smother the regimes without asphyxiating the population? Are they enough to weaken the position of both governments and precipitate their downfall? Continue reading Struggle in Middle East
By webmaster, on December 3rd, 2011
The Gulf Today, November 26, 2011
Has the Egyptian revolution taken a bad start or rather a bad turn? If the answer is: “a bad start,” this is a disaster, for it means that the Egyptians have been deceived or even betrayed. The next question would be subsequently: are the present events going to fix it? Are the demonstrations in Maydan Al Tahrir and most of all the clashes with the security forces, and the blood spilling, the “right way” to do it?
If the answer is: “rather a bad turn,” it is even worse. For it means that the revolution was a complete success and the democratic change under way; but some bad guys tried to exploit the ambiguous situation of a transitory period preceding the announced elections to advance their own interests, and the result is the current mess. The next question would be then: is it a defeat for democracy? Continue reading The master of the game
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Aysha Taryam
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