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Perhaps most of Yemen’s problems, if properly addressed, could be resolved within a short or medium timeframe — that is, except for the issue of tribes. Nothing in the country …

By hosting a Formula 1 race in 2012, the Bahraini government was angling for attention on two fronts, positive publicity and economic benefit. Instead, they received mainly critical attention driven …

Syria’s political landscape has dramatically changed in the last fifteen months and so has its business environment. A few weeks before the uprisings began in March 2011, the Syrian government …

In most nations civilian rule of the army is hallowed political ground; it ensures that the power of the gun cannot be used to overcome that of the ballot box. …

In late May, Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli erupted into deadly violence with the shockwaves eventually spreading south onto the streets of Beirut. By the time the politicians, generals and …

Winston Churchill once said that watching the Kremlin was like watching two bulldogs fight beneath a carpet — outsiders have little idea what is going on until the bones of …

On March 18 the Syrian government announced it would set price controls for a whole set of key commodity items, and that all retailers will have to comply with the …

If Michel Ecochard were alive today to see his beloved Beirut, he would arguably want to drop dead on the spot. Beginning in the 1930s, the French architect and urban …

Nicotine is an insidious drug that ensnares people with remarkable effectiveness, and yet despite increased awareness of the perils of tobacco addiction, Lebanon is still hooked. The tobacco industry is …

Talks between Iran and the leading world powers, including the United States, in mid-April have revived hopes of compromise on Tehran’s nuclear program. Essentially the two sides agreed that the …