Hope for Change in Iraq
Eleven years after the United States led a war to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, many Iraqis voice their hope that the parliamentary elec¬tions would bring about a change to the country, although Iraq still needs a long way to go before it becomes a stable and prosperous state.“All the blocs are focusing on change, which means po¬litical leaders have realized that there is a desire among the Iraqi public for a change, and there¬fore the strategies of electoral campaigns were concentrating on showing that they are willing to make a change,” said Ahmed al-Sharifi, a researcher with the Iraqi Center of Strategic Study....
Leader: Don’t Lace Nation’s Needs with Removal of Sanctions
The comment came as Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany were about to sit for a new round of talks over the country’s nuclear energy program. On November 24, the two sides inked a nuclear agreement in the Swiss city of Geneva in a bid to set the stage for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over the country’s nuclear activities. Under the Geneva deal, the six countries have undertaken to lift some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during six months. It was also agreed that no more sanctions would be imposed on Iran within the same timeframe. Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader rejected West’s expectations for Iran to limit its ....
Iran-Saudi Cordial Ties in Interest of Muslim World
In an analytical article published on Al-Monitor website, the Saudi analyst Abdulmajeed al-Buluwi tried to explore basic grounds on which the Saudi foreign policy has been founded. One of the main topics of his article was the foreign policy approach taken by Saudi Arabia toward Iran. Al-Buluwi has written that if it were not for the presence of a Shia minority in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government would not be willing to take steps to curb Iran’s influence in the region. From his viewpoint, increased influence of Iran in the region will strengthen the Shia minority in Saudi Arabia and make them think about bolstering their political role in the power equation of Saudi Arabia...
Confidence-Building a Two-Way Road
No doubt, there are certain circles in both the countries whose interests lie in the deal’s failure. At the same time, there are wise people, groups and factions on both sides that give priority to their respective national interests instead of prioritizing factional or lobby interests.The onus is on the latter to make the deal a success. As far as the Iranian side is concerned, advocates of the deal have done their homework. They are accountable and as soon as there is any untoward development related to the deal in the United States, they work hard to convince the former group about the constructive intentions of President Barack Obama’s administration..
Egypt’s Youth Political Parties: Main Challenges and Obstacles
Continuous political instability has made it difficult for all the new parties to build structures. Frequently, members have been busier coordinating protest activities and demonstrations than organizing the party internally. Given the lack of human and financial resources, they have been unable to manage both activities at the same time. Also, all of the new parties that have been absorbing the revolutionary youth are facing a number of structural and programmatic challenges, although to different degrees. Scarcity of funds has especially harmed the performance of both the Constitution Party and the Popular Current and has limited their capacity to spread out geographically as well. Both formations have yet to develop a fundraising ...
Civil War in Syria
Entering the third year of the conflict, a lot of evidence points to the fact that the civil war in Syria will not be settled militarily in the near future. The government and rebels or terrorists are locked in a battle for survival that does not permit any compromise. External supporters of both sides consider the conflict to be a zero-sum game with far-reaching, for some even existential, consequences for their own strategic position.With their diplomatic, financial and military support the external supporters of the terrorist are stoking up the conflict and strengthening the hardliners...
Ballot Boxes Not Barrels of Gun to Determine People’s Fate
Three years after the start of the Syrian civil war, the so-called opposition is entangled in an infighting skirmish. The opponents of Syrian people and government have tried to depict theSyrian National Council (SNC) and National Coalition as representatives of the people.As a matter of fact some sections of the abovementioned groups represent a very tiny chunk of the population. At the same time, the takfiri and extremist groups that are fighting the Syrian people and government are not all Syrian nationals. They are hired by some Arab and Western countries and dispatched to Syria from different parts of the world. The Syrian government has provided hundreds of identity cards and passports of these mercenaries to international organizations...
