CENTRE for MEDITERRANEAN, MIDDLE EAST & ISLAMIC STUDIES

Iran has consistently attempted to portray the Arab spring as an "Islamic Awakening" and a continuation of its own Iranian revolution of 1979, in an attempt to further its main goal, the consolidation of its role as regional power. By choosing to ignore the clearly political, and not religious, context of the Arab uprisings, Iran has failed to mobilize the Muslim world under its wing. Its goal of achieving a "leader" status in the region, could be threatened even more by the risk of failure of the ongoing nuclear talks, and also by the menacing presence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Securitarian, humanitarian, and economic concerns concur in defining a country's migration policies. The political upheavals and conflicts in the MENA region and the resulting outflow of refugees highlights how migration policies and foreign relations - both domestic and external dimensions - are strictly interlinked. In the middle of the refugee crisis, with the Mediterranean becoming the “graveyard” for thousands of migrants and Libya plunging into chaos, Italy sought a new approach to border control with the Mare Nostrum operation. Was it an ephemeral response to the public outcry or should it be considered a call for a more coordinated and coherent European effort?

The way the Arab and Muslim people in the region react to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)reveals the boundaries of the Islamic State (IS) identity formation. Even though ISIS aspires to supplant other religious, Arab and national identities, in reality the IS cannot unshackle itself from these identities.

As the United States has been undertaking an air strike campaign in Iraq and Syria for several weeks, the familiar question in US foreign policy debates reappeared: can airpower alone do the job? Wrong questions, though, lead to wrong answers. Too much focus on military means and ways results in the tacticization of strategy and the neglect of the political context. The United States should strive to defeat the Islamic State strategically, employing military force if necessary, but not by force alone, because weapons can win battles but cannot win wars.

During the past few months, the international community has been following closely the Crimea crisis as well as the events in Syria and Iraq. Due to the latter's explosive nature, the situation slowly developing in the Maghreb countries failed to make a strong impact on the news. Priorities, however, are shifting and interest in the Maghreb - Algeria and Libya in particular - is coming back to the forefront.

During most of its modern history, Egypt seemed to follow a more or less similar path in its foreign policy: it would align with one major power after another and would thus gain an advantageous position in the region. During the past two centuries, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States have replaced one another in more or less the same role. Amid the “new Cold War” trend being covered lately in the international press and Sisi’s recent visit to Moscow where he signed the first arms deal with Russia since the 1960’s, many have begun speaking of a renewal of the strategic relationship between the two countries and a consequent chill between Cairo and Washington.

Having been repressed or used for decades by the local regimes, Salafism is on a definite rise, raising security and political threats primarily in the Middle East, while the West sees the chance for democratization drifting away. The many faces of Salafism make us address questions regarding its origins, its present dynamics and also whether it can be a viable political alternative and a part of a democratic transition.

For the past five years, US President Barack Obama has appeared committed to putting an end to decades of conflict in the Middle East, and to striking a deal between Israelis and Palestinians that can bring about a two-state solution. Obama’s decision to make Middle East peace a centerpiece of US foreign policy has been an audacious political gamble. This article seeks to explore why finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been so close to Obama’s heart, and assesses the chances of the success of yet another attempt to resolve the Middle East impasse. 

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan did not experience the large number of protests and riots that took place in the frame of the revolutionary wave known as the Arab Spring. Even the large-scale demonstrations of 2011 and 2012 that erupted across the country did not have any tangible success. However, the stability of the Hashemite Kingdom is now being threatened by several emerging challenges posed by the ongoing Syrian crisis and domestic opposition groups.

The aim of this analysis is not to provide facts on Pakistan's current situation but rather to interpret them and consequently trace the path that Pakistan is most likely to pursue. I will argue that its major problems are violence and corruption, rather than the absence of democracy. Furthermore, by taking into account the country's socio-political realities (alternative identities and networks, perception and role of the state, a shrinking middle class), it will be examined whether events like the Iranian Green Movement, the Arab Spring, or the Palestinian Intifadas can take place in Pakistan in the near future.