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Category - Arab

  • 12 Jan 2012
    From Vietnam to Palestine: A crime of silence?

    Palestine remains politically inert despite the artificial fireworks of a UN application for statehood or membership of UNESCO, observes Dr Harry Hagopian. So why is Palestine faced with such a thunderous crime of silence? After all, over the past year, we have been witnessing popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa region. Where is the disconnect here?

  • 31 Dec 2011
    First anniversary of the 'Arab Spring': An assessment
  • 31 Dec 2011
    Radio discussions: The Arab Awakening?

    Middle East specialist and Ekklesia associate Dr Harry Hagopian is appearing on BBC and Premier Radio programmes over the New Year period, analysing the dramatic changes which have taken place in the region over the past year.

  • 21 Dec 2011
    Assessing change in the Middle East and North Africa

    The new story in the Middle East and North Africa region is only one year young and it will take a long time before we can pass any definitive judgments about its successes and failures, says regional commentator Dr Harry Hagopian. Here he reviews the recent House of Lords debate initiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, adding further commentary and elucidation for observers, journalists and policy-makers.

  • 14 Nov 2011
    Six more weeks of the Arab Awakening

    The 'Arab Awakening' - initially dubbed the 'Arab Spring' - started in Tunisia in December 2010. Since then, those revolutions and popular revolts have already enveloped Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.

  • 5 Sep 2011
    Kamal Salibi: A loss to Lebanon and the Arab intellectual world

    Dr Kamal Salibi, a renowned academic and historian, died suddenly in Beirut this week. Harry Hagopian reflects on his significance not just for his home country, but for the Arab world as a whole and for all concerned for the social, intellectual, religious and political culture of the Middle East.

  • 30 Aug 2011
    The Libyan experience and an Arab awakening

    What started in Tunisia simply cannot stop now in Libya, says Harry Hagopian. It should not only grow but also improve incrementally so that we all stop talking romantically about a one-season 'Arab Spring' and think more pragmatically in terms of an Arab Awakening from a long slumber - a stubborn challenge against those rulers and elites who would prefer their co-citizens to remain dormant.

  • 1 Aug 2011
    The story behind the story in the Middle East

    The Middle East and North Africa area remains a vast and heterogeneous region of turbulence, confusion, hope, dread, reform, stand-off, contradiction, expectation, frustration, life and death.

  • 11 Jul 2011
    The Arab quest for empowerment

    Noting that much of the critical energy and revolt arising from the six-month old 'Arab Spring' has been directed internally rather than externally, respected scholar Elizabeth Kassab, who has a particular focus on post-colonial debates on cultural malaise, looks behind the headlines and media glare to examine features of the newly emerging landscape in the Arab world. Recovering a balanced, healthy and empowering sense of self has not been and will not be an easy task, she suggests.

  • 26 Jun 2011
    Waves of Syrian uncertainty

    The social and economic crises President Assad referred to in his recent speech mask the real political crisis, says Harry Hagopian. This concerns the governance of the country, the relationship between the different members of the ruling dynasty, and the fact that the major impediment to a normalisation of the situation is the mounting anger against the two-million strong security services and police force who have been running amok and applying myriad forms of retributive action against largely unarmed demonstrators.