Qifa Nabki
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Mohamad Chatah (1951-2013)
I met Mohamad Chatah in late 2011. I was in Beirut for a couple of weeks, interviewing politicians and civil society members for a research project on bicameralism and consociationalism, and a mutual friend put us in touch. He had been interested in the idea of a Lebanese senate for many years, and so he … Continue reading
The Great Sorting Out: Ethnicity & the Future of the Levant
In the discussion section of the last post (“Syria and the Lessons of Iraq”), my friend Joshua Landis made an interesting comment that I felt should be promoted to the main page. I publish it below with a few minor edits, and with Joshua’s permission. It is followed by some brief comments by me. I’ll ask … Continue reading
Syria and the Lessons of Iraq
Joshua Landis and Murhaf Jouejati were on the PBS Newshour a few nights ago discussing the Obama administration’s stance on Syria in the wake of its decision to withhold non-lethal aid from the Free Syrian Army. The interview is brief; I recommend watching it all. After the PBS clip went live there was a discussion … Continue reading
Where Will All the Jihadis Go?
Since the signing of the US-Iran nuclear agreement, several curious news items have stoked speculation that some of the major players in the Syrian crisis may be coming around to a more accommodating negotiating posture, in advance of the Geneva peace conference scheduled for January 22, 2014. On December 3, Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah … Continue reading
Saad’s Midas Touch
Saad Hariri released a statement today commemorating the death of Nelson Mandela, which contained the following sentence: “بلغ مانديلا من العمر حدود المئة، وبقي حتى اللحظة الاخيرة من حياته قطعة نادرة من الذهب الأسمر التي تلمع في ارجاء البشرية، وتقدم في كل يوم أمثلة حية عن قيم الصفح والمصالحة والاعتراف بالآخر، وإنزال العقاب المعنوي والأخلاقي … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…