March 31, 2020
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Muhammad Hussein Over the past few weeks of the coronavirus crisis, democratic governments around the world have imposed stricter controls on their citizens in more places than at any other time...
March 24, 2020
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Muhammad Hussein At the beginning of this month, pro-Assad journalist Rafiq Lutf wrote on Twitter that he had discovered many people infected with the coronavirus in Syria. He said that that...
March 9, 2020
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Muhammad Hussein The Middle East has seen some bad deals in recent years; some are still in effect while others have crumbled. The agreement struck between Russia and Turkey last week...
March 2, 2020
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Muhammad Hussein After nine long years, Turkey has finally punished the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad, with the dictator ignoring Ankara’s ultimatum to withdraw his troops Idlib province by the end...
February 21, 2020
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Muhammad Hussein Since the first stages of European colonisation of the Middle East, as with other imperial powers elsewhere, there has been resistance in one form or another. This has been...
February 7, 2020
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Muhammad Hussein Ever since the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad responded to peaceful popular protests in the country with a brutal military crackdown in 2011, the ensuing civil war has witnessed...
January 23, 2020
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Muhammad Hussein Relations between the European Union and Turkey have seldom been good. Throughout Turkey’s efforts to join the EU over the past few decades to the current tension, Europe has...
January 6, 2020
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Muhammad Hussein The killing of Iran’s Major General Qassem Soleimani by the US in Baghdad has been met with mixed reactions around the world. Some have expressed their grief, while others...
December 31, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein This New Year will mark a century since the historic Treaty of Versailles was put into effect, creating the borders of much of the contemporary world and enabling the...
Published in:
Africa,
Article,
Asia & Americas,
Egypt,
Europe & Russia,
International Organisations,
Iraq,
Libya,
Middle East,
Opinion,
Qatar,
Russia,
Saudi Arabia,
Syria,
Turkey,
UAE,
UN,
US December 24, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein A revolution is a project. Like all projects, it has requirements before it can truly be deemed successful. For a start, there must be popular resentment of the government...
December 13, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein There are few political enigmas these days – strongmen, yes, but not enigmas. We have US President Donald Trump, who is far from it; we have UK Prime Minister...
December 6, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein 'We will remain in Jerusalem, defending our religious sites and endowments. We reject the policies of the occupation. We will not surrender'
December 5, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory, as well as the efforts that Israel goes to to impose second-class citizen status on Palestinian citizens and inhabitants of the occupied West...
December 4, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein What: Religious extremists in Saudi Arabia under the charismatic leadership of man disgruntled with Western access to the Kingdom, took over the Grand Mosque of Makkah for two weeks....
November 19, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein Turkey has long been perceived to be undergoing a struggle between the secular and the religious. The population in its Anatolian heartland and east is generally more religious and...
November 12, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein A current has swept throughout the Levant from a subtly-felt but well recognised influence. From the protests in Iraq and Lebanon to the Sunni insurgents and opposition groups in...
October 25, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein “Who created you? Who is your God? Who do you pray to?” asked a Syrian regime soldier to a man he was torturing and beating in a small dank...
October 20, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow and death left a void in the region as well as Libya, which has yet to be filled.
October 19, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein A nation’s image is usually only as good as its achievements, so it is a sad time when the image that appears in many minds when hearing the name...
October 7, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein According to US-based Imam Siraj Wahhaj, “We need a centralised leadership, and that’s the key.” He said this in a speech at a recent event in New York, hosted...
September 30, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein When discussing the Palestinian cause from the Nakba to the Great March of Return, many things spring to mind: the phenomenon of Zionism and its gradual takeover of Palestine;...
September 2, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein What makes a regime and its ruler legitimate? The question has long been on the minds of the greatest philosophers and political scientists stretching from ancient Greece to the...
Published in:
Article,
Asia & Americas,
Europe & Russia,
Israel,
Middle East,
Opinion,
Palestine,
Russia,
Saudi Arabia,
Syria,
US August 31, 2019
|
Muhammad Hussein When a twenty-six-year old Tunisian vegetable vendor set himself on fire in front of a government building after being slapped by a police officer for not having his cart...
August 12, 2019
|
Muhammad Hussein “There is no national feeling. Between town and town, village and village, family and family, creed and creed, exist intimate jealousies… to render a spontaneous union impossible. The largest...
Published in:
Article,
Asia & Americas,
EU,
Europe & Russia,
International Organisations,
Iran,
Middle East,
Opinion,
Russia,
Syria,
US August 2, 2019
|
Muhammad Hussein When Boris Johnson was voted in as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by default last month, there was a lot of speculation...
July 25, 2019
|
Muhammad Hussein Imagine an Atlantic region where Canada, Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela teamed up to sign a new landmark NAFTA-like agreement, distributing amongst themselves the oil and natural gas reserves off...
Published in:
Africa,
Asia & Americas,
Caribbean,
Cuba,
Cyprus,
Egypt,
EU,
Europe & Russia,
Greece,
Israel,
Mexico,
Middle East,
Opinion,
Syria,
Turkey,
Venezuela July 21, 2019
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Muhammad Hussein Gaza. The very name evokes images of Israeli bombardment, crumbling infrastructure, keffiyeh-clad protestors standing defiantly with Palestinian flags and slingshots, and screaming children shot by snipers in a fog...
June 19, 2019
|
Muhammad Hussein A plethora of unflattering phrases litters the discourse surrounding relations between Turkey and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), including “strategic liability”, “loose cannon”, “reckless, aggressive ally” and “fifth...
June 13, 2019
|
Muhammad Hussein On this day in 1978, Israeli military forces finally withdrew from Lebanon three months after their invasion of southern Lebanon in an effort to hunt down and eliminate the...
When a ceasefire was negotiated in September last year between Russia and Turkey for the purpose of setting up a buffer zone in Idlib province – the last opposition-held...
Imagine your home being raided at pre-dawn hours by gun-wielding soldiers, your laptop and devices which connect you to the world being confiscated, your dignity stripped from you as...
April 28, 2019
|
Muhammad Hussein The infamous Abu Ghraib prison complex in Iraq was revealed to be the centre of an extensive network run by the US military after the coalition’s invasion of the...
![A freeway sign that says 'Stay Home Stop The Spread' is seen in New York, US on 25 March 2020 [Tayfun Coşkun/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-measures_2.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Over the past few weeks of the coronavirus crisis, democratic governments around the world have imposed stricter controls on their citizens in more places than at any other time...![A worker disinfects the atrium of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, on 23 March 2020. [KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/GettyImages-1208026458-scaled-e1585051155592.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
At the beginning of this month, pro-Assad journalist Rafiq Lutf wrote on Twitter that he had discovered many people infected with the coronavirus in Syria. He said that that...![President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2nd R) and President of Russia, Vladimir Putin (R) hold a joint news conference following their meeting in Moscow, Russia on 5 March 2020. [Turkish Presidency / Murat Cetinmuhurdar / Handout - Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20200305_2_41208816_52808102.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The Middle East has seen some bad deals in recent years; some are still in effect while others have crumbled. The agreement struck between Russia and Turkey last week...![Turkish Armed Forces' tanks, self-propelled (storm) howitzers, hedgehogs, armored construction machine and military vehicles arrived at Reyhanli district and continue their deployment process to Syria border in Hatay, Turkey on February 14, 2020 [Cem Genco / Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/20200214_2_40853083_52161469.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
After nine long years, Turkey has finally punished the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad, with the dictator ignoring Ankara’s ultimatum to withdraw his troops Idlib province by the end...
Since the first stages of European colonisation of the Middle East, as with other imperial powers elsewhere, there has been resistance in one form or another. This has been...
Ever since the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad responded to peaceful popular protests in the country with a brutal military crackdown in 2011, the ensuing civil war has witnessed...![EU flags are seen in Frankfurt, Germany on November 11, 2019 [Aysu Biçer / Anadolu Agency]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/20191113_2_39288283_49411248-scaled-e1578134889840.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Relations between the European Union and Turkey have seldom been good. Throughout Turkey’s efforts to join the EU over the past few decades to the current tension, Europe has...![Iranian women carry images of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a US airstrike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, during an anti-US rally to protest the killing at Palestine Square in the capital Tehran, Iran on 4 January 2020. [Fatemeh Bahrami - Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/20200104_2_40163753_50920481.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The killing of Iran’s Major General Qassem Soleimani by the US in Baghdad has been met with mixed reactions around the world. Some have expressed their grief, while others...
This New Year will mark a century since the historic Treaty of Versailles was put into effect, creating the borders of much of the contemporary world and enabling the...
A revolution is a project. Like all projects, it has requirements before it can truly be deemed successful. For a start, there must be popular resentment of the government...![Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech Art Grand Awards Ceremony at Bestepe National Congress and Culture Center in Ankara, Turkey on 12 December 2019. [Murat Kula - Anadolu Agency]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/20191212_2_39813899_50309385.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
There are few political enigmas these days – strongmen, yes, but not enigmas. We have US President Donald Trump, who is far from it; we have UK Prime Minister...![Archbishop of Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Church, Atallah Hanna [centre], seen during a protest in the West bank city of Hebron on 22 January 2015 [Muhesen Amren / ApaImages]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/220115_MUH_00-7-e1549109143479.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
'We will remain in Jerusalem, defending our religious sites and endowments. We reject the policies of the occupation. We will not surrender'![Activists, politicians and supporters of the Palestinian cause gather in Istanbul for the' First Global Conference on Israeli Apartheid' on 29 November 2019 [Middle East Monitor]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Israel-apartheid-in-TurkeySRV_3880.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory, as well as the efforts that Israel goes to to impose second-class citizen status on Palestinian citizens and inhabitants of the occupied West...
What: Religious extremists in Saudi Arabia under the charismatic leadership of man disgruntled with Western access to the Kingdom, took over the Grand Mosque of Makkah for two weeks....![People carrying Turkish flags and Ataturk's portraits march to mark the 79th anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Atuturk's death in Izmir, Turkey on 10 November 2017 [Mengüarslan/Anadolu Agency]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017_11-10-Turkey-commemorates-79th-anniversary-of-Ataturks-death20171110_2_26800143_27693816.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Turkey has long been perceived to be undergoing a struggle between the secular and the religious. The population in its Anatolian heartland and east is generally more religious and...![Protestors attend ongoing anti-government demonstrations in Iraq's capital Baghdad on November 02, 2019 [Murtadha Sudani / Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/20191102_2_39119386_49094511.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
A current has swept throughout the Levant from a subtly-felt but well recognised influence. From the protests in Iraq and Lebanon to the Sunni insurgents and opposition groups in...![Members of Turkish Red Crescent distribute humanitarian aids to the civilians in Tal Abyad, Syria after the city center was cleared from PKK, within Turkey's Operation Peace Spring as the flow of life returns to normal in northern Syria, in Tal Abyad, Syria on 19 October 2019. [Ömer Alven - Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191019_2_38837557_48632144-1-e1571990613194.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
“Who created you? Who is your God? Who do you pray to?” asked a Syrian regime soldier to a man he was torturing and beating in a small dank...![Image of the former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi [US Navy photo/Wikipedia]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2009_2_9-Muammar-al-Gaddafi.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow and death left a void in the region as well as Libya, which has yet to be filled.
A nation’s image is usually only as good as its achievements, so it is a sad time when the image that appears in many minds when hearing the name...![President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets US-based Imam Siraj Wahhaj as he arrives to make a speech at Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) in New York, United States on 22 September 2019. [TURKISH PRESIDENCY / MURAT CETINMUHURDAR / HANDOUT - Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20190922_2_38345450_47826798-e1570442712247.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
According to US-based Imam Siraj Wahhaj, “We need a centralised leadership, and that’s the key.” He said this in a speech at a recent event in New York, hosted...
When discussing the Palestinian cause from the Nakba to the Great March of Return, many things spring to mind: the phenomenon of Zionism and its gradual takeover of Palestine;...![Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, Syria on 10 May 2010 [Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Syrian-President-Bashar-AssadGettyImages-98963545.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
What makes a regime and its ruler legitimate? The question has long been on the minds of the greatest philosophers and political scientists stretching from ancient Greece to the...
When a twenty-six-year old Tunisian vegetable vendor set himself on fire in front of a government building after being slapped by a police officer for not having his cart...
“There is no national feeling. Between town and town, village and village, family and family, creed and creed, exist intimate jealousies… to render a spontaneous union impossible. The largest...![New British Prime Minister Boris Johnson waves to the media on the steps of No 10 Downing Street in London, UK on 24 July 2019 [Dinendra Haria/Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/indirBoris-Johnson-Arrives-In-Downing-Street-To-Take-The-Office-Of-Prime-Minister20190724_2_37489235_46326308.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
When Boris Johnson was voted in as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by default last month, there was a lot of speculation...![A view of F241 TCG Turgutreis frigate ahead of the NATO's 'Breeze 2019' Maritime Exercise, in Varna, Bulgaria on July 15, 2019. [İhvan Radoykov - Anadolu Agency]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/20190715_2_37357121_46103890.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Imagine an Atlantic region where Canada, Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela teamed up to sign a new landmark NAFTA-like agreement, distributing amongst themselves the oil and natural gas reserves off...![Amputee Football Championships in Gaza on 13 April 2019 [Moahammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Rafah651A6549.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Gaza. The very name evokes images of Israeli bombardment, crumbling infrastructure, keffiyeh-clad protestors standing defiantly with Palestinian flags and slingshots, and screaming children shot by snipers in a fog...![Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu makes a speech as he attends the panel named as “Turkey’s Role in NATO and Regional Security” that held by Atlantic Council, German Marshall Fund and Munich Security Conference in Washington, United States on 3 April 2019. [Fatih Aktaş - Anadolu Agency]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190403_2_35806404_43258723-e1554316747942.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
A plethora of unflattering phrases litters the discourse surrounding relations between Turkey and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), including “strategic liability”, “loose cannon”, “reckless, aggressive ally” and “fifth...![Israel withdrew from Lebanon on 13 June 1978 [Wikipedia]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/800px-PikiWiki_Israel_4220_Israel_Defense_Forces-e1560249158968.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
On this day in 1978, Israeli military forces finally withdrew from Lebanon three months after their invasion of southern Lebanon in an effort to hunt down and eliminate the...
When a ceasefire was negotiated in September last year between Russia and Turkey for the purpose of setting up a buffer zone in Idlib province – the last opposition-held...![Thousands of Gazans attend funeral of Palestinian journalist Ahmed Abu Hussein [Mohamed Asad/Middle East Monitor]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018_04_26-Gazans-attending-journalist-funeralIMG_3456-.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
Imagine your home being raided at pre-dawn hours by gun-wielding soldiers, your laptop and devices which connect you to the world being confiscated, your dignity stripped from you as...![An Iranian couple walk past mural paintings depicting scenes from the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, on a major highway in the Iranian capital 1 Tehran June 2004. [BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images]](https://i2.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-187854763.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=85&strip=all&ssl=1)
The infamous Abu Ghraib prison complex in Iraq was revealed to be the centre of an extensive network run by the US military after the coalition’s invasion of the...