Middle East and North Africa
Bahrain
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War Reporting—Experiences From the Front LinesThree of CFR’s Edward R. Murrow Press Fellows and veteran foreign correspondents discuss their experiences reporting from the front lines, including the dangers of working in conflict zones and the importance of investigative journalism.
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Can Bahrain Be Saved?Yesterday the government of Bahrain condemned a leading human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, to five years in prison. His crime: tweeting. Rajab has been in and out of prison for years for such “c…
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The Crime of Writing to The New York TimesYou might think that publishing a letter to the editor in The New York Times cannot possibly be a crime. But you probably don’t live in Bahrain. Nabeel Rajab has been in prison since June in Bahra…
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Weekend Reading: Between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain’s Illusions, and Egypt’s BrexitReading selections for the weekend of June 24, 2016.
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Bahrain Slips Further into RepressionThe Project on Middle East Democracy sums up the week in Bahrain: First, "A Bahraini court ordered the suspension of all activities by al-Wefaq, the island-nation’s largest opposition party. The J…
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“Closing that Internet Up”: The Rise of Cyber RepressionBrandon Valeriano is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, and author of Cyber War versus Cyber Realities on Oxford University Press. Allison Pytlak is a policy and advocacy specialist at C…
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The Middle East Is in for a Tumultuous 2016This article was originally published here on Fortune.com on Wednesday, January 6, 2016. Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic ties with Iran after authorities executed a popular…
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Guess Who’s Coming to (the GCC) Dinner?On May 13 and 14, President Obama will be hosting a summit meeting with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation. The members nations are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar. The prob…
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Bahrain: "Insulting a Public Institution" Means PrisonAmericans who complain about the post office, or more seriously the police, or (God forbid) whoever happens to be president do not expect to be jailed, but Bahrainis do. This week a leader of the (p…
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Weekend Reading: After Sultan Qaboos, Bahrain Goes To The Polls, and Saudi Arabia’s ElitesGeorgia Travers considers the implications of rumors about Sultan Qaboos’ health on Omani political society. Faten Bushehri assesses the state of Bahrain on the eve of its parliamentary elections. …
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Bahrain: Jail for Insulting the Ministry of InteriorA number of states still imprison people for offending the head of state. When Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was president of Egypt, he did it all the time. As I’ve written here before, Ba…
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How Personal Politics Drive Conflict in the GulfDavid Roberts, lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London, based at the Joaan Bin Jassim Staff College in Qatar, offers expert insight into the recent tensions among the majo…
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GCC Nations: Protections and RisksWith the exception of Yemen, the member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council range from prosperous to extremely rich—but they are also vulnerable to security threats from terrorists and from Iran…
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Iran Continues Subversion Despite the Nuclear NegotiationsThe Obama administration is fighting strongly to prevent Congress from adopting new sanctions legislation that would go into effect one year from now if, and only if, the nuclear negotiations fail or…
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Bahrain: Insulting the King Means JailDuring his brief period as Egypt’s president, Mohamed Morsi sought to suppress criticism by prosecuting citizens for the "crime" of "insulting the president." In fact he prosecuted more cases than al…