As people in the West continue to hear the stories of ordinary citizens in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, they are realizing more and more that human desires, needs and wants or all people are one and the same.
As people in the West continue to hear the stories of ordinary citizens in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, they are realizing more and more that human desires, needs and wants or all people are one and the same.
Americans have been thrilled and inspired by the Arab Spring. But now a practical question looms: Just how far are we prepared to go to help these rebellions succeed?
Obama's "winds of change" speech was meant to formalize an historic shift in U.S. policy toward the Middle East. Instead, he put the spotlight on the one thing that seems impervious to change: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Let's try something new for a change, using age-old wisdom that actually worked: one that has brought peace to both ancient Arabia and the so-called "new" world already.
Without an American Spring, the Arab Spring is still on its own. This country will keep supporting despots and royal families in the Middle East, and we won't stop being the world's largest arms dealers.
Is the Arab Spring really an "American" Revolution? According to President Obama and his speechwriters, the answer is, surprisingly, yes.
It's time for the United States to recognize that the future of the Middle East is not in the hands of aging autocrats like Saleh or even traditional elite oppositionists, but in civil society.
The greatest threat to America's safety and security over the past five years has not been from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, dug into Afghanistan and Pakistan. It's been from Yemen-based offshoot al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
As the Gulf Cooperation Council expands, the Arab world will be split into the monarchical and the republican regimes. Will this herald a new Arab Cold War or will the spirit of the Arab Spring us into a more promising future?
Osama bin Laden and the "suspected militants" targeted in drone attacks should have been arrested and tried in U.S. courts or an international tribunal. Obama cannot serve as judge, jury and executioner.
Having killed the world's most notorious terrorist in a cross-border "kill operation," U.S.-targeted killing is at the center of public attention and international scrutiny. Now is the time for the U.S. to publicly announce a clear policy on targeted killing.
The first Arab revolution in Tunisia may stand the best chance of success of ushering in the more open, democratic government that protesters demanded. Robert Malley shared his insights into Tunisia's revolution.
The world's most wanted terrorist was a block away from the army garrison. This incident is not the first time the Pakistan Army has made claims that strained credulity.
Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Two guys cost a trillion dollars. Is there a better way to spend our money?
For ten years millions of Arabs were held hostage due to the acts of a minority. During this time tens of thousands of lives were lost in senseless violence that only a megalomaniac would be able to justify.
Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, serious questions will be asked of whether Pakistan deserves to remain at the top of the threats tree.
As American policymakers assess al Qaeda's next move to avenge the death of its original leader, they are very much keeping an eye on its newer ones. Yemen is bin Laden's ancestral home and has been a hotbed of Jihadist radicalism in recent years.
Ironically, Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit vendor whose death unleashed the Arab Spring, probably dealt a far more devastating blow to al Qaeda's fortunes than the assassination of Osama bin Laden.
Unless the Hueys are seen ferrying the dictator away in a scene reminiscent of Saigon in 1975, Yemenis are likely to remember for a very long time which side the United States took in their freedom struggle.
The U.S. has shaped its policy toward the Middle East according to the Chinese proverb of "killing the chicken to scare the monkey." Gaddafi is the undead chicken. Bashar al-Assad and Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa are the unscared monkeys.
I'm not arguing that Shiites have a lot in common with rodents and insects. But you wouldn't know it by watching Bahrainis and Saudis snuff them out with barely a peep from Western and majority-Sunni Arab nations.