Damascus Spring? Layla M., on the ground in Damascus, reports that amid sporadic artillery fire and power outages, with helicopters whirring overhead, residents verged on jubilation. But the city was a ghost town Wednesday night, hopes tempered by fears ranging from economic paralysis to chemical weapons. Syria
US Global Justice Chief Warns Assad: Syria Will Put You on Trial Syria's president will answer for his crimes, but now isn't the time to refer him to the International Criminal Court, says the head of the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice. In an interview with Barbara Slavin hours after Assad’s brother-in-law and defense minister died in a bomb blast, he said that Syria would try Assad itself. Syria
UAE Security Crackdown: A View From The Emirates Sultan al Qassemi writes that there is no support for the protesters currently being arrested in the UAE. Across liberals and conservatives alike, sentiment is overwhelmingly against the detained activists. Qassemi sees the UAE's political Islamists as having failed in gauging the level of support for political reform and an Islamic state. United Arab Emirates
Syrian Defense Minister, Assad Brother-in-Law Killed in Blast Syria's defense minister and Bashar al-Assad's powerful brother-in-law were killed in the suicide bombing of a cabinet meeting in Damascus Wednesday, and several other ministers were critically wounded. Laura Rozen reports that the Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for the attack, which marks a dramatic new phase for the rebellion. Syria
The Limits of Turkey's Kurdish Efforts in Iraq Turkey’s "zero-problems with neighbors" policy seems to be working in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, writes Denise Natali. In five years, Ankara has used its soft power to turn a once tense relationship with the Kurdistan Regional Government into an economically and politically profitable one, but fragile regional alliances still play a major role. Iraq
Libya Hurtles Toward Democracy Returning from observing the July 7 elections, it was hard for Daniel Serwer to believe that Libya, a pariah state for most of his adult life, might actually be on the path to democracy. But the elections went surprisingly well, he writes, and a strong collective hatred for Muammar Gadhafi could have contributed to the success. Libya
Is There More Trouble Ahead for Benjamin Netanyahu? The Israeli unity government is falling apart over the debate about requiring ultra-Orthodox and some Arab citizens to do military service. Akiva Eldar, a senior analyst at Ha'aretz, writes that the friction might mobilize Palestinian-Israelis to vote in next year's elections, which could be problematic for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel
Eight Reasons Why Waltz Theory On Nuclear Iran Is Wrong A recent article in Foreign Affairs by Kenneth Waltz made the provocative claim that Iran should possess nuclear weapons — for the sake of global stability. Hossein Mousavian and Kaveh Afrasiabi strongly disagree. They argue that Waltz's argument relies on erroneous assumptions about Iran that generate "a dangerous fallacy." Iran
Egypt's Evolving Landscape Narrows Options for US Policy While the fall of Mubarak has opened up Egypt's political system for the Egyptian people, it has narrowed the options for US policy makers, writes Aaron David Miller, who will now have to navigate between anti-democratic generals and democratically elected Islamists. Egypt
Why The Islamists Lost in Libya Defying all predictions, Libyans voted overwhelmingly for liberal political parties instead of the Islamists, according to early election results. Mustafa Fetouri says Mahmoud Jibril’s coalition may have pulled off the surprising victory because of Jibril's skill and charm — and also because Libyans feared going down the same path as Tunisa and Egypt. Libya
Pentagon Seeks to Sell Drones to Iraq, Turkey The Obama administration is pressing to change the rules on weapons exports despite objections from Congress, which is concerned about the spread of drone technology across the Middle East, writes Richard Sisk. In May, Iraq agreed to buy at least six unarmed US surveillance drones and Turkey is currently haggling for new drones. Iraq
Exclusive: Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee on War, Peace and Nukes Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee’s spoke with Al-Monitor correspondents Barbara Slavin and Laura Rozen on July 10 2012. Read excerpts from the wide-ranging conversation. Iran
Iran’s UN Envoy: We Will Not Initiate Confrontation EXCLUSIVE: Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said that Iran will not "initiate any provocative steps" with the West despite the imposition of draconian sanctions, in a wide-ranging interview with Al-Monitor's Laura Rozen and Barbara Slavin. He also described recent nuclear talks as tentative and vague. Read more from the conversation. Iran
Hosting Morsi's First Foreign Trip Is a Coup for Saudi Arabia The new Egyptian president travels to Saudi Arabia Wednesday for his first foreign visit — a bitter blow to Iran, which has been seeking improved relations with Cairo, writes Shahab Mossavat. Association with Egypt, the Arab world’s largest democracy, is seen as no bad thing, and now Riyadh has stolen a march on Tehran. Saudi Arabia
Palestinian Authority Escalates Crackdown on Journalists Earlier this month, Palestinian police beat several journalists as they covered a non-violent protest in Ramallah, according to news reports. This incident is just the latest in a series of cases over the past six months where Palestinian journalists, bloggers and social media activists have been targeted and jailed, reports Lena Odgaard from Ramallah. Palestine
Yemen’s Ticking Time Bomb Eight months after the ouster of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the streets of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, are quiet. But violence continues to rage elsewhere, writes Danya Greenfield from Yemen. What is glaringly obvious, and widely acknowledged by most Yemenis, is a lack of vision from the president, prime minister and the cabinet. Yemen
