Category: Conflict & Change

In this republished article by journalists William Booth and Hazem Balousha, educated and unemployed Palestinians in their 20s discuss lives bereft of opportunity and hope. Nearly 60 percent of young Gazans are unemployed and most would leave if it were possible. With few stable job prospects and no escape, many have resorted to occasional odd […]

On May 19th, Iranians return to the polls to select their next president. The much anticipated event has received a great deal of scrutiny from journalists and analysts who have been closely monitoring the candidates and their campaigns. Iran continues to play center stage in global politics due to concerns about its compliance with the [...]

A poster of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the upcoming referendum, in Istanbul on March 27. (Emrah Gurel/AP) Learn more about Turkey’s constitutional vote taking place on Sunday that will shape this regional power’s future in this informative background guide. Leader Erdogan has been at the forefront of a global trend toward reactionary nationalism that […]

The Middle East is often characterized by perpetual conflict, religious extremism, poor governance, and people torn apart by sectarian, ethnic and national differences. However, there are a variety of initiatives whose goal is to promote dialogue and peaceful coexistence between groups of diverse backgrounds, demonstrating that divisions and enmity are man-made problems that can be […]

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced his resignation on Thursday, May 6, 2016. Davutoglu’s resignation is the most recent in a string of concerted efforts by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to consolidate power in the Turkish presidency. Various internal and external factors, such as security threats from the PKK and ISIS, a refugee crisis from […]

Journalist and comedian, Dean Obeidallah, reaches beyond the headlines detailing the horrific treatment by the Islamic State of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. Here he discusses the Islamic State's impact on fellow Muslims in response to a September report drafted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the [...]

In 2012, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai was 15 and an outspoken advocate for children's and girls' access to education when she was shot by fundamentalist Taliban fighters opposed to her public stance and to gender equality. She fought for her life and subsequently resumed her work which eventually earned her a Nobel Peace prize in [...]

This in-depth profile looks at key participants in the 2011 Egyptian uprisings as well as the first post-Mubarak presidential election candidates. In addition, you will find a few contemporaneous articles that demonstrate the impassioned atmosphere at that time. Asmaa Mahfouz Asmaa Mahfouz was born on February 1st, 1985. She graduated from Cairo University with a BA [...]

The highly contested negotiation talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany) over the former's nuclear program resulted in a tentative framework for an eventual agreement. These discussions have been on the center stage of the global community whose concerns over regional security have elicited a [...]

How Did Algeria Differ in the Arab Spring Revolts? In 2011, starting with the self-immolation of Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, a wave of revolutions and protests swept across the Arab world. This series of protests and revolutions are popularly referred to as the “Arab Spring.” Almost every single Arab country participated in the Arab […]