Ever since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011, pundits and so-called experts have been making declarations about “what’s wrong” with the region and “what’s next” in terms of…
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Whenever we find ourselves strapped for cash, my closest friend in Yemen — an American citizen — and I joke that I should arrange for his kidnapping. We would surreptitiously…
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There is a lot to be said about the ways humor can keep you going in times of hardship. Yemenis, who are all too familiar with adversity, have recently adopted…
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The drone debate in America has become depressingly polarized. While critics point to the civilians killed and argue that most of the suspects could be captured, proponents counter that the…
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It was like a scene from a great novel: Yemen’s most famous feminist screaming incandescently at the country’s most powerful tribal sheikh. Cameramen gathered round, eager to record history as…
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In a country where American drone strikes have killed hundreds of civilians and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula roams free in many parts, it is ironic that on a…
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When I first met Ali Salem al-Beidh in June last year, I was struck by the enthusiasm and energy of the 73-year-old. In his office in Beirut, the former President…
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Yemen is not just a land of many problems — its sky has problems too. The receding annual rainfall from the clouds above has made way for another precipitant: missiles…
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Lebanon is presented with the most serious challenges it has faced in the past decade. The economy is struggling, the internal security situation is deteriorating and the country’s neighbors pose real threats. In…
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Yemen has always been a country of halves,and 2012 was no different. Half dictatorship, half elections, half reform and some even claim merely a half a revolution, given that past…