Discovering MENA and other thoughts

When it comes to analyzing the so-called "Arab Spring" (a term most pundits increasingly warn against, but that nowadays holds a significant meaning and won't stop being of widespread use anytime soon), a question that comes to many people's minds hinges on the extension of the movement. Has it spread to all Arab countries? What about the Gulf monarchies? Have they been really spared of the unrest or will it eventually increase reaching their neighbour's dimension or, worse still, consequences? Notable cases in point are the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In the United Arab Emirates , 94 people have gone on trial on charges of trying to overthrow their Government, in a process that many human rights watchdogs have shown concern towards, stressing irregularities, arbitrariness and lack of transparency. Coincidentally, the suspects include human rights lawyers, doctors, academics and student leaders, all of them arrested throughout last year, after having advoc...

A great article in Al-Monitor (undoubtedly one of the best sources of information concerning MENA affairs), that also interestingly enough tackles the foreign policy shift of other countries in the region (namely Jordan, Kuwait and even Egypt). I keep wondering why these countries could not foresee in the past some of the factors they are now taking into account, notably the presence of extremist forces on the ground. Has that been a surprise to anyone? In his outrageous speech , many were surprised after "Assad did not mention Saudi Arabia despite the fact that he talked about countries financing, arming and supporting insurgents". Indeed, it appears the Saudi has renewed contacts with the Syrian regime over the last weeks and that's apparently because of various reasons: "• The steadfastness of Assad and his army over the past 22 months. • The growing role of Salafist forces in Syria and the fear of the spread of this role to Saudi Arabia and other count...