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Archive for the ‘The Gulf’ Category

An Oasis of Steel and Glass: A (Westernized) Levantine Impression of Abu Dhabi

Posted in Levant, The GCC States, The Gulf, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2011 | 2 Comments »

The Middle East is not supposed to look this way. Organized city grids, pre-planned mixed-use neighborhoods, green highway medians, strip malls, and a street lamp on every corner. Don’t forget elegant, if empty, steel buildings and roads so smooth that you feel guilty driving on them. From the skies, in one of Etihad’s plush planes, [...]

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Christmas Conversations (Part II): “At Least We Still Have Tabbouleh”

Posted in Christians, Hizbullah, Iran, Lebanon, Middle East, Syria, tagged , , , , , , on December 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Another premium selection from 2010′s Christmas Conversations… Family Member 1 “Fuck politics. Lebanon is good for arak and kibbeh nayyieh. [The Lebanese] have been killing each other for generations. We’ve had a damn crisis every ten years or so. But we’ve still got our kibbeh nayyieh, arak – and tabbouleh and hummus – and that’s [...]

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Get Real: Hizbullah Won’t Let an Adverse Indictment Slide

Posted in Hizbullah, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Levant, tagged , , , , , on December 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

The Lebanese never learn. For years, Hizbullah convinced many Lebanese that it would not turn its weapons against them. Shiites, Sunnis, Druze, and Christians all bought into that myth. Some believed wholeheartedly that Hizbullah would remain focused on Israel, while others saw no other choice but to acquiesce to realities on the ground. After all, the Lebanese had [...]

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Truth in Conflicting Views: Brief Comments on U.S. and Iranian Involvement in War-Time Lebanon

Posted in Christians, Iran, Lebanon, Levant, United States on October 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Earlier this week, NOW Lebanon published an op-ed that Firas Maksad, a Middle East analyst, and I, a humble law student, wrote. The piece basically argued that the Marine Barracks Bombing on October 23, 1983 was an opening salvo in Iran’s bid for expanded power in the Middle East. On the other hand, Foreign Policy published a piece by Nir Rosen, a fellow [...]

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Regional Context: Articles to Read

Posted in Iran, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United States on October 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Selected reading for information only, as it is worth keeping the regional game in mind. This post does not endorse or reject the content of these articles… The National Newspaper (UAE) on Syria-Saudi ties: http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090710/FOREIGN/707099796/1011/rss Foreign Policy on the “Other Threat” from Iran: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/10/02/the_other_ticking_clock_in_iran Council on Foreign Relations on US-Iran relations: http://www.cfr.org/publication/20344/road_ahead_for_usiran_relations.html?breadcrumb=%2F

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Right ‘Round, Right ‘Round

Posted in Druze, Hizbullah, Lebanon, March 14, March 8, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United States, tagged , , on August 21, 2009 | 1 Comment »

He’s done it again. Walid Jumblatt has left the March 14 coalition – or maybe not. Being the leader of the fiercely proud and historically influential Druze minority, “Walid Beik” operates to keep his community secure and his dynasty relevant. With that said, it appears that three trends have led Jumblatt to move away from [...]

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