Research & Commentary Results

Originally posted June 2009

This Opinion was first published on Reuters.com on October 11, 2012

Assertions and opinions in this policy paper are solely those of the above-mentioned author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Middle East Institute, which expressly does not take positions on Middle East policy.

Turkey and the Regional Dynamics of the Syrian Crisis Denise Natali, Omer Taspinar, Mona Yacoubian, Gonul Tol 27 September, 2012 Podcast 31This is the second of four events in a joint lecture series by Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies and the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University.

Turkey and the Regional Dynamics of the Syrian Crisis Denise Natali, Omer Taspinar, Mona Yacoubian, Gonul Tol 27 September, 2012 Podcast 31This is the second of four events in a joint lecture series by Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies and the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University.

Turkey and the Regional Dynamics of the Syrian Crisis Denise Natali, Omer Taspinar, Mona Yacoubian, Gonul Tol 27 September, 2012 Podcast 31This is the second of four events in a joint lecture series by Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies and the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University.

Turkey and the Regional Dynamics of the Syrian Crisis Denise Natali, Omer Taspinar, Mona Yacoubian, Gonul Tol 27 September, 2012 Podcast 31This is the second of four events in a joint lecture series by Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies and the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University.

Turkey and the Regional Dynamics of the Syrian Crisis Denise Natali, Omer Taspinar, Mona Yacoubian, Gonul Tol 27 September, 2012 Podcast 31This is the second of four events in a joint lecture series by Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies and the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University.

The first volume of the migration and the Arab World series dealt primarily with the trends in, consequences of, and policy responses to labor migration in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states since the “oil boom” period of the 1970s. This volume focuses on the countries of the Mashreq (i.e., Egypt and the Levant) as source and destination countries for various migrant groups, dating from the late 19th century up to the present day.

This Opinion first appeared in Foreign Policy on August 29, 2012

Introduction

This Opinion was first published on Al-Monitor.com on June 28, 2012

What are the limits of free speech and open dissent in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? They are often unclear and seemingly arbitrary, but there is no doubt that Dr. Mohammad al-Qahtani, a professor and activist, went well beyond them, and he knew it. He was hardly surprised when Saudi prosecutors, finally fed up with his vociferous denunciations of the regime, hit him with a long list of criminal charges. He had predicted it, and in the context of Saudi Arabia, he was asking for it.

This Opinion first appeared in Al-Monitor on June 16, 2012

The death Saturday (June 16) of Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz is likely to have little short-term impact on the economic or political life of the kingdom or on its international relations. But it does accelerate the inevitable transition to a new generation of rulers who may have very different ideas about how the al-Saud should rule their people, deal with their neighbors and manage the critical relationship with the United States.

This Opinion first appeared in Foreign Policy on May 30, 2012

The massacre in al-Houla, where Syrian military forces and allied militiamen massacred more than 100 civilians in cold blood, leaves no doubt about the intentions of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime: survival at any cost and through any means. Assad does not have a Plan B.