April 20, 2011
Wrath of the Rural Poor
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
BEIRUT -- One of the important common features of many of the current uprisings against Arab governments by their own people has been the fact that poor and rural populations have often led the challenge to existing power structures that are dominated by wealthy urban elites. Poverty in itself usually is not a sufficient reason for populations to revolt and seek to overthrow existing regimes. But when poverty combines with a brand of abuse of power and accumulation of wealth by urban rulers that leads to large swaths of the rural and provincial populations being pauperized, marginalized and effectively disenfranchised, a volatile situation develops and ultimately explodes if it is not redressed.
April 18, 2011
Goldstone: Person and Process
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
BEIRUT -- Controversy is good if it helps to promote truth and justice, and this is what we have now in relation to the 2010 “Goldstone Report” about the conduct of Israel and Hamas during the 2008-09 Gaza war. It continues to generate fresh controversy in light of recent statements by the four members of the original fact-finding commission established by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Now as then, the important issue is not the personality of any single commissioner or the political winds that blow through the Council. Rather, the core issue that has always given the Goldstone process such importance is the quest for justice and truth by holding accountable those states or political movements that use military force against civilians in a manner that contravenes international humanitarian law.
April 13, 2011
Spring Always Follows Winter
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
BEIRUT -- One of the great misconceptions about the current revolts for freedom, citizen rights and human dignity that continue to spread across the Arab world is that they came as a surprise, emerging from nowhere, with no advance warning that Arab people had it in them to challenge their own power structures and security regimes. The truth is otherwise. Those who have been taken by surprise by this Arab Spring obviously were asleep during the Arab Summer, Winter and Autumn that came before. More likely, they simply did not make the effort in the past two generations -- since the 1970s -- to look beneath the surface of events in the Arab world to explore the sentiments of ordinary people. The Arabs and their states were defined by a series of one-dimensional caricatures -- anti-Israeli, anti-American, Islamic, extremist, violent, emotional, and corrupt -- that left no room for more probing, nuanced and accurate perceptions of the actual values of our societies and the sentiments of our citizens.
April 11, 2011
Israeli Hope, Israeli Intemperance
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
BEIRUT -- The historic transformations underway in many Arab countries have temporarily overshadowed other major regional issues. Well, this period seems to be coming to an end, forcing us all to re-focus on understanding the hard reality that we can no longer isolate a single issue or conflict in the Middle East -- Palestine-Israel, Iran, democratization, Hizbullah, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, terrorism, Anglo-American invaders, corruption…take your pick -- and address it on its own. The thick web of inter-linked issues, players and interests means that restoring stability, security and sustained development to the Middle East region forces us to deal with underlying causes of tensions.
April 6, 2011
The Complex Discontent that Brings Revolution
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
BEIRUT -- Political scientists and other analysts will spend years studying the many dimensions of the current citizen revolt in the Arab world, including key issues like: Why did it suddenly explode onto the scene last December-January? What are the key issues that drive it? Who are the most pivotal actors? And why does it seem to topple some regimes but not others?
April 5, 2011
Rami Khouri: Give Arab democracy a Chance
Media Feature
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
Dubai Initiative Senior Fellow Rami Khouri speaks to CNN's Global Public Square about the "Arab Spring" and the political and social change in the Middle East.
April 1, 2011
Assad’s Moment of Truth in Syria
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
BEIRUT -- The rolling citizen revolts that have moved throughout much of the Arab world in the past three months have now reared their head inside Syria, and the Syrian government has moved forcefully to stem the wave of protests from spreading throughout the country. Syria is a lynchpin of many relationships and developments around the Middle East, vis-à-vis Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia especially; so any change in the power structure or policies in Damascus will reverberate around the region like a propelled silver ball in a pinball machine.
March 26, 2011
Historic Challenges in Syria and Jordan
Op-Ed
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
AMMAN -- Events in Jordan and Syria this week mark perhaps the most significant leap forward in the continuing Arab citizens’ revolt against the modern Arab security state since the overthrow of the Tunisian and Egyptian regimes. The public challenge to the pervasive and efficient security and intelligence services in both countries means that citizens have crossed a major threshold in demanding changes in the conduct of their respective power systems. Should power configurations and policies change in Jordan and Syria -- given their links with Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia -- the entire Middle East will be impacted in important ways.
March 23, 2011
An Extraordinary Week of the Arab Citizen Revolt
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
AMMAN -- In the past ten days I will have been in Beirut, Damascus, Doha, Qatar, and now Amman, Jordan, and in a few days I will be in Abu Dhabi then Dubai. This slightly more hectic than usual travel schedule provides useful opportunities to gauge popular and elite sentiments on the ground in various parts of the Arab world, during this historic moment of almost revolutionary change. This extraordinary week of major events in several Arab countries clarifies what was not clear when the first citizen revolt took place in Tunisia starting in December. The Arab countries can now be classified into three broad groups in terms of how they react to the demands of their citizens for serious reform or the removal of the leadership.
March 20, 2011
Guts and Guns and Values
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Three things happened simultaneously this week that point the way to a looming new era in the Middle East: U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech Monday laying down the reasons for American military involvement in Libya, the involvement in that campaign by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the continued spread of Arab citizen revolts. All three are significant historical developments in their own right. Together, they usher in important possibilities for change in the Middle East that could positively impact the entire world.
