Qifa Nabki
Syrian Civil War
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
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
The Generalissimos of Tripoli’s Streets
Two nice little items to note today: (1) The Economist dubbed Qifa Nabki “the leading blog on Lebanese politics.” Sarah Birke mentions several other excellent authorities to follow on Twitter to get your Lebanon news/commentary. Check them out. (2) QN is five years old! The anniversary came and went quietly a couple months ago, but in … Continue reading
Degrading Discourse
Sharmine Narwani and Radwan Mortada published an investigative piece on Narwani’s blog for Al-Akhbar English yesterday, which raises doubts about the UN chemical weapons (CW) report on Syria. I think they do a worthy job of pointing out the investigators’ indebtedness to rebel-friendly tour guides on the inspection dates (which the report also mentions), but … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…