Sometimes it is the tiniest spark that lights the largest fires. Small pocketbook items have become the catalysts for large-scale protest movements around the globe in the past months. A four-cent raise in metro fares in Chile, fluctuations in the price of onions in India, and a twenty-cent tax on the use of the messaging … Read more
Half a year ago, a broad-based anti-government protest movement swept across Lebanon, igniting the most sustained political unrest in recent memory. Incited by a proposed tax on internet messaging services in the midst of a fiscal crisis, and building on the agitation of periodic protests in past years, over one million citizens took to the … Read more
From almost failed states like Yemen and the unprecedented growth of ISIS to plummeting oil prices and Iranian nuclear non-proliferation, the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East is growing increasingly complex. Under these rapidly evolving circumstances, the stability of the Gulf Cooperation Council has come under question. The GCC was established in 1981 largely as … Read more
Since Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in December of 2010, the small Gulf nation has been the target of a hailstorm of criticism from abroad while also seeing tremendous excitement from residents of the region. International scrutiny of the decision to let Qatar host the tournament has focused on … Read more
On June 7, 2015, Turkey held general elections in which the governing Justice and Development Party, commonly known as the AKP, lost its outright majority in Parliament for the first time in 13 years. The electoral system in Turkey allocates 550 total seats. But the country also has the world’s highest election threshold, barring from … Read more
In the first Republican debate of the 2016 election, Carly Fiorina told the American public that her second phone call from the Oval Office would be to the Supreme Leader of Iran, to whom her message would be “crystal clear: new deal, new deal.” Later, Donald Trump, on Good Morning America, in usual bombastic fashion, … Read more
On July 23, Turkey formally entered the American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, granting the United States and its allies access to strategic airbases within its border with Syria and initiating its own air and artillery strikes to secure its southern border. While some have hailed the agreement as a milestone in the effort against … Read more
November 24, 2014: Kurdish Peshmerga loyal to the Kurdish Democratic Party advance upon ISIS militants lying in wait in Kharabarut, Iraq. They manage to take the city—temporarily. The KDP forces soon face an aggressive ISIS counterattack and decide to retreat to avoid any losses. Meanwhile, a nearby unit of Kurdish fighters loyal to the Patriotic … Read more
In a video entitled “There is no Life without Jihad,” young men shaded by verdant palm trees empathetically assure their audience that they understand their struggle as Muslims in a western country. The video shows English-speaking members of the Islamic State give calm, earnest testimonies urging Muslims in the West to join the terrorist group … Read more
The minibus ride home alone from the shopping center was normally safe for 20-year-old Özgecan Aslan, a Turkish student studying psychology at Çağ University in the province of Mersin. On February 11, however, the journey took a dangerous turn. Özgecan was forced to fight for survival as driver Ahmet Suphi Altındöke attacked and attempted to … Read more