Majalla Blogs
Unconventional—and sometimes provocative—insight from our sister magazine, The Majalla.
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Saturday, 7 Dec, 2013
The Sahel’s Lucrative Ransom Business
The recent killing of two French reporters in northern Mali highlighted the dangers for expatriates working in the Sahel, the arid region of north-central Africa south of the Sahara desert. Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon were abducted by gunmen on November 2, 2013. After a short chase by French army patrols, the reporters were shot dead by their captors and their bodies abandoned. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the main terrorist group in the Sahel, later claimed responsibility ...
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Thursday, 5 Dec, 2013
Egypt’s Ex-Presidents’ Club
“The trial of Mohamed Mursi is not taking place in the same manner as the trial of Mohamed Hosni [Mubarak]. If Mursi has committed crimes against the people, then we, as the people, should have the right . . . to see what is happening inside the court,” one Egyptian citizen opined as he was interviewed on Egypt’s Nile Television Network last month during Mohamed Mursi’s trial. “Otherwise, this means that you are afraid, that you are the criminal, and so what happened was ...
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Tuesday, 3 Dec, 2013
Syria’s Brotherhood: Doomed to Repeat the Past
In Istanbul last month, the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood launched a new political party known by its Arabic name, Waad (“Promise”). It will be led by Mohamed Wal...
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Saturday, 30 Nov, 2013
A Rolling Stone to Crush Corruption
Something decidedly ordinary happened in Yemen earlier this month: The government re-assigned various senior police, civil defense forces and coast guards from one province to ...
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Wednesday, 27 Nov, 2013
Fighting Faith
As clashes in Dammaj, in the northern province of Saada, intensify, officials in the Yemeni capital are growing more and more worried about the impact that sectarian tensions w...
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Tuesday, 26 Nov, 2013
No Room Service for Syria’s Refugees
Somewhere along the journey from Aleppo to Istanbul, Ma’ada’s daughter had lost her shoes. Now the little girl hobbles along the sidewalk two steps behind her mother, smiling a...
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Sunday, 24 Nov, 2013
An Unlikely Ally Against Domestic Violence
In a conference room in Ankara, with stars on their shoulders, members of the Turkish gendarmerie gathered to protect women. This time, the mission has an unlikely partner: the Eur...
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Thursday, 21 Nov, 2013
Sustainable Growth or More of the Same?
In recent weeks, a series of unusually blunt statements from senior officials in Oman and Kuwait has drawn attention to the need for urgent and systemic economic reform in Gulf...
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Wednesday, 20 Nov, 2013
Art and Punishment
The old "suffering artist" cliché takes on a new meaning when it comes to Soudabeh Ardavan. Charged with participating in demonstrations against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Arda...
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Thursday, 14 Nov, 2013













