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MIDDLE EAST STUDIES

thinktanksProf Daniel Pipes
(President of the Middle East Forum based in USA)

Copyright: http://www.danielpipes.org/ - Publication Date on RIEAS web site: 27/09/2014

In a eyebrow-raising 4,000-word exposé, "Foreign Powers Buy Influence at Think Tanks" published in the New York Times on September 7, Eric Lipton, Brooke Williams and Nicholas Confessore look into the novel issue of foreign governmental financing for American think tanks.

The trio found that while the total scope "is difficult to determine ... since 2011, at least 64 foreign governments, state-controlled entities or government officials have contributed to a group of 28 major United States-based research organizations." Using the sketchy available information, they estimate "a minimum of $92 million in contributions or commitments from overseas government interests over the last four years. The total is certainly more." ... Read more

moroc17Moha Ennaj
(Author, Professor and President of the South North Centre for Intercultural Dialogue in Fez, Morocco)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication Date: 6 September 2014

The recent political history of Morocco up to the 1990s consisted of the late King Hassan II endeavors to consolidate the power of the monarchy. King Mohammed VI took the throne in 1999 with a promise to make a change and "turn the page" on the worst cruelties of the past.

The "Arabic Spring" in Morocco was soft since February 20 movement was a peaceful democratic pressure group. In response to the protests, King Mohammed VI, in his speech of March 9th 2011, proposed a reform of the constitution which would guarantee a separation of powers, decentralization, good governance, human rights and gender equality. The new constitution passed on 1 July 2011 recognizes Berbers' mother tongue as an official language side by side with Standard Arabic for the first time in Moroccan history.... Read more

libya12Ahmed-Tarek Megerisi
(Consultant of Arab Politics, Governance and Democratisaton)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication Date: 27 August 2014

Many eulogies have been written for the post-Qaddaffi Libyan state since the heavy fighting - which has been sporadically subsuming different parts of the country since independence - engulfed the capital Tripoli in July.

Libya's popular characterisation as a 'failed state' is not baseless. Having failed to re-vamp Qaddafi's political structure of destructive competition and power through patronage; Libya's transitional political bodies have gradually ceased to play any constructive role in the lives of the populace. Transitional legislatures have repeatedly failed to pass laws to arrest the slide into instability and the lack of services; and the executive has proven itself unable to enforce the few which are passed.......  Read more

jordan45Antonia Dimou

(RIEAS Senior Advisor and Associate at the CSS, University of Jordan)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication Date: 27 August 2014)

The relationship between democracy and the character of secret intelligence presents a composite two-sided puzzle. On the one side, the very concept of democracy demands that an intelligence agency serves democratic interests by providing one country's security and preparedness against potential threats both internal and external. The core notion is that a stronger country can turn itself into a heaven where democracy can continue to be practiced. On the other side, intelligence investigative methods in many countries occur outside the context of democratic control and oversight mechanisms, thus surfacing an inherent conflict..... Read more

Contributors:
 
Yonah Alexander
Don Wallace, Jr.
Reuven Azar
Mohammed Alhussaini Alsharif
David Pollock
Nicholas Rostow




Copyright: www.terrorismelectronicjournal.org
(Publication Date at RIEAS web site: 03/08/2014)

Introduction

Professor Yonah Alexander
Director, Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies

As this report goes to press, the world once again has been facing an alarming upsurge of threats to peace in the form of terrorism, insurgencies, and outbreaks of full-scale wars. Some of the expanding manifestations of violence have been aggravated by ideological extremism, nationalistic fanaticism, ethnic hatred, racial prejudices, religious animosities and justified in the name of “rights,” “justice” and even “peace.” The current security challenges include the renewed Palestinian-Israeli hostilities in Gaza, the apparent “Balkanization” of Syria and Iraq, and Iran’s continued nuclear ambitions...  Read more

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