Mohammad I. Aslam
Articles by Mohammad I. Aslam:
Hezbollah’s Missiles: A Brilliant Madness?
February 5, 2012 by Mohammad I. Aslam
Ehud Barak with IDF Commanders. Ariel Hermoni/IDF
The Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, whose violent opposition to Israel’s right to exist remains firmly intact, has been stepping up its incessant preparations for war in recent months, clearly unfazed by the intensity of the military projections that Israel could unleash on them and their country, in a future conflict
The most recent reports coming from the region suggest that the movement, fearing the eventual demise of its long-time ally, Syria, has been helping itself to vast quantities of sophisticated military equipment belonging to the Syrian military.
From an Arab to a Shiite Spring
December 7, 2011 by Mohammad I. Aslam
Protestors in Yemen demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa. Image via The Hindu
The daily events of the Arab spring, whose restive sway has swept the region and so far brought down four notable rulers, is now seemingly taking on a new twist – at least as far as the surviving kingdoms in the Persian Gulf are concerned. There is growing evidence that the long ruling Sunni monarchies are alarmed by the prospect of their demographically minor, but politically active, Shiite subjects, being compelled into stepping up mass revolt as a mechanism designed to ultimately topple their rule.
Only a few days ago, Amnesty International published a 73-page report condemning the use of widespread repression by Saudi authorities as a measure to pre-empt designs for an Arab Spring by parts of it Shiite population in the east of the country.
Thinking out of the Box
November 11, 2011 by Mohammad I. Aslam
Colin Powell with the Iraqi Governing Council. From left to right: Abdul Aziz Al Hakim; Dr. Adnan Pachachi, President, Iraqi Governing Council; Ambassador Paul Bremer, Presidential Envoy to Iraq; Colin Powell and Dr. Ahmed Chalabi
Think tanks, tasked with providing impetus and direction for policymakers, have consistently led policymakers down precarious roads concerning policy towards Iraq and now Iran. The influence-peddling think tank phenomenon has no doubt become an integral part of our political landscape. On paper, it’s not hard to see why.
They direct public life in a way that is seen as people-centric with the intention of increasing government support for common causes by making legislators more susceptible to popular demand. Global warming, the plight of the poor, and laws protecting us from greedy banks and corporations are the think-tank issues that lead us to believe that they represent the common man.
Bahrain: Inside the Assassin’s Smile
November 5, 2011 by Mohammad I. Aslam
Recent protest in Manama, Bahrain. Image via Al Jazeera
The tiny Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain is like a Greek tragedy, where the horror is reported but never shown. Decades of systematic police brutality and state-sponsored sectarianism directed by the ruling Al-Khalifa family, no doubt propped up by the deluded Saudi Monarchical obsessive’s, has only recently began trickling into the western media spotlight.
The rose tinted ‘tableaux-vivant’ of the Arab Spring, now sucked of its romanticism, has not registered on the media consciousness for sometime. But for the deadly security forces of Bahrain, the plot has yet to be resolved. The audience is staying interested. Every small event may hold the key to the conspiracy. Political and security snippets are being dissected, analyzed into their constituent parts, fed into the various equations and their results mulled over.
Erdoganism: A Word of Caution
October 2, 2011 by Mohammad I. Aslam
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Image via Al Jazeera
There are few analysts today who would disagree that Turkey’s populist Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is having a good run. On paper, it’s not difficult to discern why. Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has enjoyed three successive election victories, eight years in power, a booming economy and a continued ability to subdue any interference in political life from his country’s feared military.
If that wasn’t enough, Erdoğan’s dual charm offensives in the west as the new model Muslim leader, and simultaneously in the Muslim world as the big brother ready to protect them, has gone down well enough for almost every world capital to lay down the red carpet welcoming him.
Samir Geagea: The Last Relic of a Dirty War
August 29, 2011 by Mohammad I. Aslam
If there’s an oddity about former Lebanese militia leaders turning into suit-and-tie wearing politicians, the former Christian militia leader, Samir Geagea, deserves the richest degree of attention. The 59 year old has spent most of his life in a militia identified with violent sectarianism of a colossal proportion. Today, with his blood soaked hands, implications in notorious civil-war era massacres, years in solitary confinement and now a mouthpiece for belligerent politics – he’s about as old school as they get.
Smoking out Gaddafi
August 23, 2011 by Mohammad I. Aslam
Rebels gathered in southern Tripoli. Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo
For nearly six months, the ailing tyrant had lost whatever remained of his sangfroid and insisted on an outright cleansing of the rebels, which he publically called rats.
But if there was any truth to the old saying that goes: he who swims against the stream – knows the strength of it; Muammar Gaddafi seemed surely not to have understood. For all his talk of heroism, his masses of support, the love of his people and the thousands of fighters at his ready, the last vestiges of his central authority melted away like a snowman in the desert last night in Tripoli.
Hariri Indictments: The view from South Beirut
August 18, 2011 by Mohammad I. Aslam
Rafiq Hariri in his Parisian home in 1992. Image via Ammar Abd Rabbo
Finally, the long awaited but highly politicised 47-page indictments were released.
The United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) took two and half years of painstaking investigations, more than 120 million US dollars in budget and United Nations Security Council endorsement for its work to eventually culminate into the findings that the STL presented. It had issued arrest warrants back in June calling for four Lebanese suspects it says were involved in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Editor’s Pick
Comments