Courtesy: Dragonfire and Georgethewriter/WikimediaCommons
Rivals Iran and Egypt have become the two most important powers in today’s West Asia. Yet, Iran is looking for neither a smooth victory nor a quick failure for Egypt’s rise. Tehran will remain the key regional player, while it’s too early to tell if Cairo is capable of overcoming Iran’s influence.
The series of Israeli offensives against Gaza, which began on November 4, ended when Egypt's new President Mohamed Morsi brokered a ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli government on November 13. The possibility of this ceasefire holding up, however, seems remote.
The World Movement for Democracy’s Seventh Assembly focused on inclusive governance in the Middle East-North Africa region. Gateway House’s Azadeh Pourzand, blogs about the different perspectives she gathered during the discussions at the Assembly, emphasizing the need to understand the realities of the region.
Courtesy: U.S. Navy
U.S. President Barack Obama will certainly have the benefit of continuity in his second term, but he has a range of impending crises to address immediately - be it to avert the so-called fiscal cliff before the end of the year when automatic cuts kick in or plan for the military drawdown from Afghanistan.
Courtesy: VOA/WikimediaCommons
In a recent speech, U.S. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticised incumbent President Barack Obama's foreign policies, and called for U.S. supremacy. However, it seems apparent that Romney wouldn’t usher in a foreign policy revolution if elected.
With the Free Syrian Army being supplied aid by the West and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the endgame for the Syrian regime has begun. Does Assad's exit guarantee the replacement of autocracy with democracy? What implications will it have on regional politics?
Courtesy: gr33ndata/Flickr
The involvement of Islamists in democratic movements is usually dismissed as a mere ruse to attain political power. However, evidence suggests that people in Muslim-majority democracies support Islamist groups which challenge a dishonest government, rather than those who seek to establish Islamic autocracy.
The presidency of Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, will have a defining influence both in Egypt and the region. Having won the battle through the ballot though, will Muslim Brotherhood also be willing to cede power through the ballot?
Courtesy: The White House
Apart from bilateral ties, also at play at the India-U.S. Strategic dialogue is the difficult triangulation in India’s relations with the U.S. and Iran. It does not serve India to get enmeshed in the U.S-Iran confrontation. Instead, the relationship must develop on the basis of realpolitik and mutual interest.
Over the past year, there has been a drastic change in the political scenario in Syria, which is now engulfed with violent sectarian conflict. Gateway House speaks to former Indian Ambassador to Syria, Rajendra Abhyankar, about the changing political scenario and the implications of the ongoing conflict in Syria.
