Middle East Issues: Most Popular Articles

Iraq War Timeline 3
Iraq War Timeline: Main events of the Iraq war since the first day of the invasion in March 2003 to the present.

Top Oil Producers 2006
World's top oil producers 2006 United States Saudi Arabia petroleum production barrels of oil per day millions leading nations

Middle East Oil Reserves
Let's set the record straight about what few Middle East countries produce oil, and what many Middle East countries do not.

US-Mideast History
A Guide to American policy in the Middle East since World War II, from the Truman Administration to George W. Bush's "Global War on terror."

Iraq War History
an analytical overview of the last five years, framed by attempted answers to three questions: What’s been gained? What’s been lost? Where to go from here?

5 Myths About the Middle East
The people of the Middle East are constantly battling western stereotype, mis-characterization, false assumptions and gross generalities. Here are a few common, and in Middle Easterners' eyes, quite offensive, myths, and their correctives.

Sunnis & Shiites
The difference between Sunni and Shiite Islam, the origins of the split between the two sects, and demographics about the two sects throughout the Middle East

Obama's Middle East
As president, Barack Obama would extend the Middle East an olive branch at the end of a stick: he is the dovish hawk of the Democratic field of 2008 candidates, often looking to have it both ways.

Foreign Oil Dependence
America's dependence on foreign oil, not as much from the Middle East as generally assumed, foreign sources of Petroleum products and percentages of domestic product supplied

Top Oil Exporters 2006
World's top oil and petroleum products exporters 2006, Middle East oil production barrels of oil per day

Hillary's Middle East
What would a Hillary Rodham Clinton presidency mean in terms of the Middle East? A blend of hawkish policies protective of American and Israeli interests blended with renewed appeal to multilateralism and international alliances.

McCain's Mideast Policy
Heavily influenced by his Cold War experience, McCain’s Middle East policy is mostly a continuation of existing policies. A heavy and continued military presence in Iraq, striking Iran if necessary, and building up Pakistan militarily. The one word that sums up McCain’s Middle East and foreign policy is interventionism.

Top Oil Importers, 2006
World's top oil and petroleum products importers 2006, Middle East oil consumption barrels of oil per day dependence on foreign oil United States

1110-karachi6
A photo gallery of some of Karachi's greatest landmarks, showcasing Pakistan's greatest city's architecture and beauty, by Karachi photographer Aliraza Khatri.

Obama's Arab Baggage
Imagine what it must be like for a man like Barack Hussein Obama to walk around with a pair of Arab names and 9% of his life having been lived in the world's most populous Muslim nation (Indonesia). The racists are lining up to take their shots at him.

Operation Desert Storm
Definition and scope of Operation Desert Storm, the offensive phase of the U.S.-led military operation to clear Kuwait of Iraqi forces in the first Gulf War, in January-February 1991.

Malcom X in Mecca
It was in mecca that Malcolm X experienced the epiphany that would change his worldview, away from hatred for whites and toward a more universal brotherhood of men--but a brotherhood possible only under Islam.

Top Oil Consumers, 2006
World's top oil and petroleum products consumers 2006, Middle East oil consumption barrels of oil per day

Afghanistan Profile
A profile of Afghanistan, the structure of its government since 2001, the challenges of its weak economy and infrastructure, the burden of a history of fracture and foreign occupations.

1110-karachi9
In the late 1920s Shivratan Mohatta, an ambitious businessman from Marwar commissioned the architect Ahmed Hussein Agha to design a Rajput palace in Karachi. The palace was to be located in the prestigious locale of Clifton and serve as a summer home for the Mohatta family. Agha built a spectacular summer palace in the tradition of stone palaces in Rajasthan, using pink Jodhpur stone in combination with fine yellow local stone from Gizri.

2006 War
A 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah that failed to achieve Israel's objectives while feeding into Hezbollah's mythology as Lebanon's "liberator."

Iraq War Timeline 1
A timeline of the events leading up to the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) and through the end of the administration of the first George Bush in 1993.

1110-karachi10
Mazar-e-Quaid, the National Mausoleum in Karachi, Pakistan, is the tomb of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The mausoleum was completed in the 1960s and is located in the center of Karachi.

Why Is the US in Iraq?
The Bush administration has changed its rationale for war in Iraq as the complexions of the war and the occupation have changed.

Turkey Profile
Turkey is a country of contradictions: Politically European and secular but culturally Asian and Islamic, a member of NATO at loggerheads with other NATO members like the United States and Greece and a powerful economy still teetering on the edge of chaos.

Kite Runner Controversy
Afghanistan has been retreating back into chaos and repression in 2006 and 2007. The decision to delay the release of 'The Kite Runner" illustrates to what extent the country's situation has become precarious.

Quran and the Veil
The veil is one of the most contentious issues in Islam and the Western world. But is the veil, or any form of head covering, actually required by the Quran, or is it an Islamic convention?

1110-karachi8
Karachi is a center of Islamic scholarship and spiritualism, as represented by its many mosques.

Operation Desert Shield
Definition of Operation Desert Shield, precursor to Operation Desert Storm, during the first Gulf War against Iraq in 1990.

1110-karachi2
A pastoral sunset scene from Pakistan's greatest city

Iraq War Timeline 2
Iraq War Timeline: the events between the aftermath of first Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, launched in March 2003.

Algeria Profile
Profile of Algeria's politics, society and economy, its past history of subjugation under the French and recent history of civil war with Islamists.

1110-karachi3
the Port of Karachi, Pakistan's largest and busiest, handling 60 percent of the nation's cargo.

1110-karachi4
An old building in Karachi reflecting the city's old architectural style, by Aliraza Khatri.

Iraq War Guide
Complete guide to the basics about the Iraq war: timelines, causes, costs, objectives, history, profiles of the main actors and frequently asked questions.

What Is al-Naqba
May 14, 1948 marks Israel's declaration of independence. For Palestinians and Arabs, May 14, 1948 marks al-Naqba, or "the Catastrophe"--the day that triggered Palestinian dispossession and forced exile.

Security Fence or Land Grab?
Why was the security fence built? Is it designed to keep Palestinians from attacking Israel--or to give Israel an excuse to grab more land? Has it been effective in reducing suicide-bomber attacks?

Pashtun Defined
A definiteion of Pashtun, or Pakhtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

Qatar Profile
Country briefing on Qatar, one of the Arab world's smallest, richest and relatively more liberal countries.

Bin Laden's family
Osama bin Laden had four wives and 19 children. Their story presents an oddly contrasting tale of tolerance and magnanimity by the world's premier terrorist.

1110-karachi5
Hawkes Bay Beach Karachi Pakistan

The Middle East
A list of 10 of the most useful books on Middle Eastern history, society, religion and economy.

The Balfour Declaration
The Balfour declaration of 1917 was Britain's implicit, but shot-lived, recognition that Jews ought to have a homeland in Palestine.

Kuwait Profile
Country profile of Kuwait, one of the Arab world's relatively open and politically vibrant societies.

Kite Runner Review
A review of "The Kite Runner," the novel by Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini about love and betrayal through Afghanistan's thirty-year war.

1110-karachi11
A young boy on the sands of Karachi beaches

UAE Profile
The United Arab Emirates is among the Persian Gulf's wealthiest, most stable states. Here's the story on its oil-rich but diversifying economy, its few political and religious freedoms. Its military, demographics and history are also profiled.

Iraq War Costs
War costs in Iraq have increased sharply every year—from $50 billion in 2003 to $135 billion in 2007, for a total of over $600 billion by 2008.

Jordan Profile
Jordan's demographics, government structure, religions, economy, military, human rights record, history and current issues are profiled.

Viorst: Storms from the East
You’d be hard pressed to find a 178-page book that so accessibly summarizes the main currents of Arab history—religious communalism, nationalism, religious fundamentalism—while intelligently analyzing those currents’ origins in their Arab context or, since the 19th century, as reactions to western designs on the region.

The Hijab
A definition of the many meanings and applications of the Arabic word hijab, or veil, in the Middle East and the Islamic world.

1110-karachi1
Camels on the glassy-water beaches of Karachi, by Aliraza Khatri

Hezbollah's Emergence
Hebollah was an obscure organization in 1983. Its bombings of the US Marines barracks and the US Embassin Beirut in 1983 made Hezbollah the world's premier terrorist organization.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Profile
Born into a poor, rural family, Recep Tayyip Erdogan rapidly rose to power on the strength of Turkey's increasingly powerful Islamist electorate. Read a full profile of Erdogan's rise and politics.

Middle East Basics
A guide to Middle East basics - The basic facts about the Middle East, the best books, country profiles and briefings on US-Middle East relations

Bush and the Middle East
What went wrong with President George W. Bush's Middle East policy? It was never thought out strategically or tactically. Only ideologically. And only half-heartedly at that.

Al-Jazeera
What's really on the Arab world's most-watched network?

Glossary: Gulf Cooperation Cou
The economic and cultural union between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates

Obama-Madrassas
The false allegation that Barack Obama attended a west-hating "madrassa" in Indonesia when he was young, and that he is a Muslim, keeps being repeated. The allegations are scurrilous in every way.

Troops in Afghanistan
Breakdown of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, Who's in command, the mission's parameters, what's been accomplished, where troops have failed and why the Afghan army isn't stepping up.

Iran Profile
Iran in brief: government structure, the economy, the military, the state of human rights, and Iranian history summed up.

The Much Too Promised Land
Aaron David Miller was a Middle East specialist at the State Department, formulating American policy and negotiating strategy regarding the Arab-Israeli peace process for almost a quarter century. He served six administrations along the way, Democratic and Republican, beginning with the Carter administration in 1978 and ending with the second Bush administration in 2003.

What Is the Middle East
Can the Middle East be precisely defined? Not quite. The term can be as contention as the region, but between convention and history, a fair definition is possible.

Profile: Al Jazeera
From its launch in 1996 Al Jazeera has revolutionized the rules of Arab television news while challenging western dominance in setting the agenda of perceptions about the Middle East.

Benazir Bhutto
A child of privilege, a woman of contradictions: Benazir Bhutto, twice the prime minister of Pakistan, has shuttled between power and exile, authoritarianism and liberalism, civil governance and corruption.

Osama bin Laden
The life and aims of the world's most wanted terrorist

Blackwater Mess
The Sept. 16 killing of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad by Blackwater guards puts in question the role of private security contractors, their lucrative, taxpayer-funded contracts, and their apparent immunity from the law. But the U.S. is too dependent on security contractors to manage more than cosmetic changes.

UAE's Media Landscape
The National is the latest of a half-dozen English-language newspapers and on-line publications to join the diverse media environment of the United Arab Emirates. But diversity doesn't necessarily mean press freedom.

Mideast Travel
Seven of the New York Times' 53 "Best Places to Travel in 2008" are in the Middle East, and several of those are surprising choices: what axis of evil?

From Pariah to Oily Flirt
Profile of Libya's government under Col. Muammar Qaddafi's dictatorship, the country's oil economy, its embrace of terrorism in the 1970s and 80s, its rehabilitation in the 21st century.

Glossary: Yom Kippur War
A brief explanation of the Yom Kippur, or Ramadan, war between Israel and Egypt in October 1973.

Bahrain's Shiites
Bahrain is the last country in the Middle East with a majority Shiite population still ruled by a minority, and authoritarian, Sunni family. The small Persian Gulf country is a study in restlessness.

Tunisia Profile
Tunisia's government, society, economy, military and religious make-up are profiled and its history summarized.

Turkey and the Head Scarf
Since 1980, Turkish students have been banned from wearing the Islamic head scarf in schools and universities. Leila Sahin challenged the ban. She lost in court, but won politically.

Saudi Arabia Profile
Saudi Arabia's demographics, absolute monarchy, oil economy, religious order, military, human rights record, history and current issues are profiled.

Egypt Profile
Egypt is the Arab world's most populous country and one of its most authoritarian. Between economic challenges and an uncertain political succession for President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt is struggling to maintain its role as an Arab leader.

1974 Disengagement Treaty
The full text of the first agreement leading to a separation of military forces between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Disengagement Treaties
Following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the 1974 and 1975 disengagement treaties between Egypt and Israel were the first step toward a final peace agreement between the two countries.

Roadmap for peace
An analysis of George W. Bush's 2002 proposal for peace between Israel and Palestine

Jihad
A definition of Jihad, the Arabic word for "holy war," one of the most mis-applied and misunderstood words in the Islamic lexicon.

Iraq's Kurds
What is Kurdistan? Who are the Kurds? Where are they located? What are they after? And is Iraqi Kurdistan the first step toward an independent Kurdish nation?

Lewis' "What Went Wrong"
As European civilization was rising during the Enlightenment, Islamic civilization was proving incapable of keeping up with its European rivals. Bernard Lewis asks why, but his question raises more questions than it answers.

Mujahidin
Definition of Mujahid, the Arabic word for "one who engages in jihad," or "warrior of God."

Mauritania Profile
The story on Mauritania: Country profile, briefings, recent and past history, Mauritania's challenges as an emerging democracy seeped in a history of military juntas and slavery.

Afghanistan's Repressions
The ouster of Afghanistan's brutal Taliban regime in 2001 was supposed to usher in freedom and democracy respectful of civil liberties and human rights. Reality is proving assumptions wrong.

Road Map for Peace
President George W. Bush's Road Map for Peace in the Middle East: the Bush administration steps into the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians

madrassas
A definition of the word that means, in Arabic, "school"

Surah
Definition of the Arabic word "surah," or "chapter."

Yemen Profile
The story on Yemen: current issues, Yemen's place in the "war on terror," its relatively freer political climate but still unstable internal dynamics as Shiite rebels battle the central government.

Iran's Nukes
Iran has been aiming to become a nuclear power for more than two decades. The question has always been: for peaceful or offensive means? Iranian leaders themselves have been of two minds an Iranian nuclear weapons program.

Definition of Ihram
Definition of Ihram, the state of purity required of Muslim pilgrims before conducting the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Pakistan's 2008 Elections
Pakistan's 2008 parliamentary elections are a sharp rejection of President Pervez Musharraf's nine-year rule. But Pakistan's future as a democratic nation is still uncertain.

Amis: "The Second Plane"
Amis has been accused of being an Islamophobe. His critics are wrong. He’s not against Islam. He’s against Islamism, a distinction he elucidates throughout the book: “Naturally we respect Muhammad. But we do not respect Muhammad Atta.”

Is Mauritania Radicalizing?
A few but notable incidents have rattled Mauritania, a moderate Arab nation in West Africa. Is Mauritania turning to Radical Islam?

Wright's "The Looming Tower"
A history of al-Qaeda from its origins to 9/11-a review of Lawrence Wright's brilliant account.

What Is Hamas?
Definition of Hamas, the militant Islamist Palestinian organization founded in 1987 as a local chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sharia
A definition of Sharia, or Islamic law, with background on historical and contemporary practices

The Veil and the Law
A country-by-country look at where the Islamic veil may be worn in public schools and universities, and where it's banned or restricted.

Somalia Profile
Somalia's history for the last several centuries is a succession of occupations, wars and fractures. Since 1991, the country has been a wreck of anarchy, famine and disease. Somalia's Country Profile.

Top 10 Middle East Issues 2007
From Darfur to Pakistan by way of Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan and more: the Middle East was never far from the front pages in 2007.

Nine Parts of Desire Review
"Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women," is a rich, fascinating and intimate look at the progress and struggles of women in the Middle East, by Pulitzer-Prize winner Geraldine Brooks.

Profile: Muqtada al-Sadr
Until the American invasion of Iraq, Moqtada Sadr was "just a portly, low-ranking cleric with angry eyes, rotting teeth, an unkempt beard, and a ten-gallon black turban."

Pervez Musharraf
The controversial self-proclaimed president of Pakistan took over the country in a bloodless coup in 1999 and has since ruled with a mixture of authoritarianism and very occasional enlightenment.

Roadmap for Peace
President George W. Bush's Road Map for Peace in the Middle East: the Bush administration steps into the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, the second speech.

Operation Restore Hope
Definition of the United States-led military and humanitarian intervention to stop the famine in Somalia in 1993.

Palestinians Profile
Who are the Palestinians, where are Palestinian refugees living, what would constitute a Palestinian nation, what's the economy of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and what are the political institutions there?

Operation Litani
Largely forgotten today, Israel's 1978 invasion of Lebanon killed almost 2,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians and set a pattern of punishing retaliation against Lebanon that endures to this day--without results.

Lebanon's War on Fatah al
The Lebanese army's assault on the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr-el Bared, where the terrorist group Fatah al-Islam was entrenched, and the consequences of the battle for Lebanon's future.

Final Winograd Report
Summary of the final report of the Winograd commission on the conduct of the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Israeli military regarding Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon.

The CPA
A definition of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the Bush administration's provisional government for Iraq between April 1003 and June 2004 under the leadership of L. Paul Bremer.

Lebanese Presidents
Lebanese presidential elections since 1976 have been successive stories of foreign interference, constitutional gerrymandering, assassinations, stalemate and scornful compromise. They're democratic in name only.

What Is Fatah?
Defining Fatah, the Palestinian party founded in the mid-1950s and led by Yasser Arafat until his death in 2004.

1975 Egyptian-Israeli Agree
Following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the 1974 and 1975 disengagement treaties between Egypt and Israel were the first step toward a final peace agreement between the two countries.

Morocco Profile
The basics on Morocco: people, politics, religion, King Mohammed VI's monarchy, the situation in Western Sahara-the most pressing current issues

Glossary: Fellah and Fellaheen
Fellah is the Arabic word for farmer, or agricultural worker who makes his living from the land. Fellaheen is the plural for the word, which has also come to represent a class of people in the Arab agricultural world.

Pakistan Profile
Pakistan's brief, troubled history as a nation-state wracked by military coups and Islamic militancy contrasts sharply with its long, ancient history as a hub of Mogul, Vedic and Indus civilizations. A country profile of Pakistan.

The Arab World
An explanation of the Arab world, its part in the Middle East and the Middle East's non-Arab differences.

Middle East Issues - Profiles
An index of Profiles for the Middle East Issues guide site.

Muhammad Cartoons
In 2005, a Danish newspaper published a dozen cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons were of astonishingly bad taste. The newspaper's point was to test freedom of expression. The Islamic world didn't see it that way. Repercussions have been far-reaching.

Oprah on Arab TV
Could Oprah’s 48 minutes a day on Arab TV, twice a day, be a more powerful and positive force of social subversion in the Middle East than George W. Bush’s missionary armies could ever hope to be?

Israel Profile
The basics on Israel's government structure, its population, religious and ethnic breakdown, the military, the economy, and a summary of Israeli history going back to ancient times

Somalia Breaks Up
Somalia is not a functioning country. Mogadishu remains a deadly capital. Violence and famine are endemic. No one is safe.

Huckabee's Middle East
Huckabee is eloquent where Bush is bombastic. Huckabee is articulate where Bush sounds simplistic. But both men share the crusader’s perspective, seeing the fate of the world intimately linked with American willingness not only to protect freedom, but to project it and foment it where it’s wanting.

Iraq Profile
Iraq's evolution from cradle to civilization to invaders' welcome mat, and its current struggle to make a nation out of sectarian splinters and under occupation.

Buzkashi
Definition of the national sport of Afghanistan and other central Asian cultures.

Sunnah
Definition of the word Sunnah, the Arabic term that since before Islamic times has signified established customs and cumulative traditions, but that, in the context of Islam, relate to the exemplary deeds of the Prophet Muhammad.

Glossary: Intifada
Definition of Intifada, or uprising, or, literally, "shaking off"--the Palestinian insurgency against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza.

Winograd Commission Analysis
An analysis of the Winograd Commission report on Israel's 2006 war: context, contradictions and consequences

Annapolis Summit
The summit’s aims are as high as expectations are low. A deal between Israelis and Palestinians would be little short of miraculous. Even is a deal is struck, chances are dispiritingly low that it would be carried out without being hijacked by violent and unresolved realities on the ground, for many reasons.

Conflicts in Gaza
Hamas has no viable objective to gain by bombing Israel other than to provoke a full-scale war. Israel has no viable objective to respond militarily. The solution to conflicts in Gaza is political.

Syria Profile
The basics on Syria: people, politics, religion, relations with Lebanon and Israel-the most pressing current issues

The Litani River
Description and definition of Lebanon's Litani River and its meaning in the geopolitics of the region.

Anti-Semitism and the Mideast
The question is offensive. It should be. Anti-Semitism was never part of the Arab, Muslim or Middle Eastern landscape until it was imported there toward the end of the 19th century and made worse by Nazi propaganda in the 1930s. Nevertheless, there's no denying that virulent anti-Semitism has been a common part of the Middle Eastern landscape since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

1978 PLO Raid on Tel Aviv
In March 1978, Palestinian militants attacked civilians and battled Israeli forces on the outskirts of Tel Aviv in a bloody raid that set the stage for 30 years of attacks and ineffective, but bloody, reprisals.

Hamas Charter
The complete charter of Hamas, the Palestinian militant Islamist organization.

Pamuk's Nobel
Orhan Pamuk, by far Turkey's most popular novelist, won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2006--and stirred a major controversy in his home country over his comments about the Turkish genocide of Armenians and Turkish killings of Kurds.

Hezbollah's Imad Mugniyah
Imad Mugniyah, the Lebanese Shiite, Hezbollah terrorist assassinated in a car bomb attack in Damascus on Feb. 13, has a long, grim history of violence with one thing in common: visceral hatred for the West, whose nationals were Mugniyah’s principal targets.

Go West Young Imam
Saudi Aramco World, the magazine of Saudi Aramco, the mammoth state oil company, is one of the many ways the Puritan Islamic regime burnishes its image--and that of Islam.

Lebanon Profile
More interested in commerce than empire, the people of Lebanon have historically been more inclined to play host to a succession of invaders than build a national identity. That’s been as true since Lebanon got its independence from France in 1943 as it was in the past.

Lamb:
Two decades after David Lamb's book was originally published (by Random House in 1987, revised in 2002), it remains a lucid introduction to the main themes of Middle Eastern politics, history and social issues that most westerners find intractable.

Loya Jirga Definition
Definition of Loya Jirga, or "grand assembly," a century-old, consensus-building Afghan tradition.

Izz al-Din al-Qassam
Brief summary of the life of Izz al-Din al-Qassam, founding member of Palestinian resistance against British and Jews during the British mandate over Palestine.

Palestinian Prisoners Document
The 18-point National Conciliation Document, also known as the Prisoners’ Document, was drafted in 2006 by Palestinian prisoners held in an Israeli jail. It calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 Israeli borders.

NIE
A definition and explanation of National Intelligence Estimates, the consensus opinion of the U.S. government's 16 intelligence agencies.

Winograd Commission
An explanation of Israel's Winograd Commission, appointed to study the cause and consequence of Israel's 2006 Lebanon War

Muhammad Cartoons Again
Danish newspapers' decision to reprint a cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban re-ignites the controversy. Al-Qaeda and Al-Jazeera weigh in, with ominous results.

Images and Muhammad
Muslim tradition generally prohibits the representation of the human figure in art. But does the Koran actually ban representations of Muhammad or others?

What Are the Golan Heights?
An explanation of the geographic and political meaning of the Golan Heights, the Syrian region occupied by Israel since 1967.

Interim Winograd Report
Summary of the April 2007 interim report of the Winograd commission on the conduct of the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Israeli military regarding Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon.

Glossary: Mahdi Army
Definition of the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia founded by Iraq's Muqtada al-Sadr in August 2003.