Notions

Who would have believed that a comedian would govern an extremely strategic country that lies at the heart of Russian versus power struggle? Or that a bawdy, brainless, boorish man would run the strongest and most influential country in the world? Now, for the comedian to be the reason behind ending the clown’s tenure would be the joke of the decade. On 4 October, Ukraine’s general prosecutor’s office announced that it will review past investigations into the owner of Burisma - a gas company linked to former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter-, raising the possibility of reopening the probes as per President Trump’s instructions. Donald Trump had insisted repeatedly that his invitation to Ukraine to re-launch investigations had nothing to do with his political aspirations or cheap strategies to bring down an opponent, but rather a commitment to fight corruption committed by US nationals. Irrespective of whether an indictment would emerge, the investigations t...

Darling, we need to talk.  Never a good sign, but at least it paves the way for an amicable, quasi-consensual agreement to part ways or to solve differences. Why can’t this approach be applied in politics? Iran – AKA the root of all evil and malice according to a certain camp in the Middle East the Western world – has been fighting a proxy war in Yemen throughout the past decade or so. The alleged ultimate goal of Iranian intervention in Yemen and other neighbouring Arab states is to bolster Iranian hegemony in the region, and the easiest route to follow is to employ agents that abide by the same theological and ideological beliefs. The most sensible course encountered to fend off such expansionism is the coalescence of like-minded regimes that share common self-serving interests and the subsequent employment of religious rhetoric and exaggerated security threats.   Since 2015, the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen  attempted – with the aide of lo...

A picture has been circulating on social media of Princess Haya bint Al Hussein with her brother Prince Ali bin Al Hussein. The siblings are the offspring of late King Hussein of Jordan, and their brother is King Abdullah of Jordan. Princess Haya is married to the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – a prominent political and business figure. Owing to marital disputes, the princess left the United Arab Emirates and sought refuge in the United Kingdom to initiate divorce procedures. Clearly, she would not have been able to launch such procedures in the UAE or in any other neighbouring Arab country, mainly owing to political pressures, bias towards male spouses in most Arab civil case-law, and lengthy, complicated, flexible , and opaque procedures. The decision to leave the oil rich Emirati nation was brave, intelligent, and reflective of a high level of determination, integrity and self-respect. Nonetheless, that is what one expects of a princess. Afte...

It is virtually impossible to open a newspaper or read an online daily without coming across a headline that mourns – or announces – the death of the former Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi. Most headlines stated the obvious, leaving little room for interpretation. However, most headlines from Middle Eastern portals chose - as expected - a vaguer route, confusing the reader and leaving him/her to question the point behind the selection of the catchy titles. “The death of the only democratically elected President”… “after years of imprisonment Morsi meets his maker”…..”The death of a leader amidst a long trial”. What do these titles mean? Is he being mourned? Are people upset that he died? Is the complaint about how he died? The timing? The place? The lack of action from authorities to respond to his health deterioration – as claimed by the Turkish authorities? What are we mourning here? The fact is, Mohammad Morsi has been jailed for the past six years. He was no al...

I n theory, the Spanish electoral system is designed to introduce a consensual system of rule. Similar to its Europe peers, compromise and dialogue lie – again in theory – at the heart of doing politics. A disgruntled Britain has always frowned upon such suave tactics, promoting instead the traditional ‘win it gets it all’ type of system. A majority-one: I win, then you lose. However, Spanish politics is not that consensual. It is not consensual at all actually. Since as democracy was restored in 1975, and the electoral system was defined, elections have persistently led to the rule of one of the two major parties. Never a consensual government composed of variations on the same left/right spectrum. In the last general elections held in April 2019, the representatives of the main political parties did not even shy away from admitting this reality. The largest parties want to rule alone. No compromise, no coalitions, and no appeasement.   Although these elections were ...

"Nothing is easier than saying the words: I don’t know", my father used to say. Although his observation is very true, perhaps it also has an implicit passive dimension that employs ignorance to achieve hidden agendas. Egyptian President Adbel Fatah Al Sisi made his first state visit to the USA on 9 April 2019 after being re-elected President in June 2018. The timing can’t be more opportune, considering that in a week or so, a referendum is set to take place to vote on the constitutional amendments that were passed in Parliament last February. The constitutional changes  would essentially allow the incumbent president to remain in power until 2034. The amendments will also  give more prominence to the armed forces and hand the president the power to appoint judges. Donald Trump welcomed Al Sisi and commended the improved relations between the USA and Egypt, and the enhanced efforts to combat terrorism in Egypt. However, when asked about the constitutional amendme...

The confinement of officials to their realms of specialisation dictated by their assumed position in government serves a valid purpose: avoiding conflicting, damaging, and embarrassing incidents.   Iran’s Foreign Minister recently complained about the intervention of the Revolutionary Guards in foreign affairs, which led to damaging what has taken years to rebuild: trust in Iran as a rational and sensible actor in international affairs. In Saudi Arabia, Adel bin Jubair was sacked from his post as Foreign Minister following the works on Saudi intelligence that led to international recriminations an accusations of liquidating opponents in broad daylight. What Saudi Arabia had successfuly been able to mask in the past decades through top-notch diplomacy was also ruined by ruthless, abiding tools. Whilst stepping out of your jurisdiction and assuming the role of a true authoritarian with limitless and reign-less powers is usually observed in the Middle East, Romania gave the...

The strongest justification to allowing Egypt’s probable constitutional amendment is the February 2019 proposal of one-fifth of the House of Representatives to propose legislative changes. The proposed amendment to Article 140 of the Constitution would extend presidential terms from four to six years, and would allow for running for re-election for another two terms – meaning that the incumbent Sisi could stay in office until 2034. The amendments would also grant the President authority to choose the Supreme Constitutional Court’s President and its new members, chairs of all other judicial authorities, and the Public Prosecutor. In other words, the power to choose key figures who play a substantial role in safeguarding the integrity of the judicial system. On 13 February the Parliament will commence discussions to amend the Constitution, and will subsequently decide on behalf of over 80 million Egyptians whether their country would further entrench itself in military rule and po...

Journalist and author of A nd Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East   said that “Everything changed with the First World War. The Middle East was reorganized, redefined, and the seeds were planted for a century of bloodshed.” He was not entirely right. Bloodshed lasted more than a century actually. Here we are in 2019, and the Middle East and North Africa region – the infamous MENA – is still a boisterous, rowdy zone of political recrimination, military coups, conspiracy theories, historic reminiscence, oil squabbles, and religiously-infused rhetoric. Blood shed of course as well. Well, here we are.  Algeria is set to head to the polls in April. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will likely secure a fifth mandate. If not, Algeria’s powerbrokers, mainly the military and powerful business elites will enter into an expensive bargain of security versus social and economic stability. Having vested the long-enjoyed tranquillity on a political figure,...

It is very similar to an old, abandoned, shaky building. The case of Spain that is. Its different storeys and multiple apartments from within have no option other than to endure the troubles caused – purposefully or passively – by other tenants. Those on the lower floors are luckier, as they can avoid fifth floor drama by isolation and compartmentalization of their existence. Those on the fifth floor are also lucky in that they can blame all mishaps and malfunctioning on the basement, and its tenants. It would be physically impossible to pull an apartment out and relocate, but it is quite possible and common to create alliances and parallel systems to manage the unmanageable co-existence. And that is what is happening in Spain. The Catalan region decided to address its financial problems by blaming central mismanagement and southern hedonism. They have and still are demanding a divorce from the Peninsula, with amicable terms with the remaining neighbours. Meanwhile, the...