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Playing with fire
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December 13, 2011 01:23 AM
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Some groups are issuing denials. Others are expressing condemnation, perhaps with a statement of firm resolve tossed in. Still others are launching accusations, whether direct or indirect, and possibly adding a warning or dire prediction. And other groups make repeated pleas for calm, or remain...
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No guts, no glory
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December 12, 2011 12:30 AM
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As the situation in Syria intensifies, the Arab League is once again playing into its reputation as a toothless organization whose sole purpose is the publishing of statements, decisions and recommendations. Many of us had believed that the change sweeping the Arab region might take the league...
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Living on the edge
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December 09, 2011 12:39 AM
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The last 12 months, give or take, have been a case of the Lebanese people living on the edge. The year began with the dramatic fall of the government, supposedly a plot to usher in an alternative to Prime Minister Saad Hariri – but the “ushering in” part took nearly another six...
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Financial trials
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December 08, 2011 01:17 AM
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As if Lebanon needed the news, the international rating agency Moody’s downgraded the outlook for the country’s banking sector – giving it a negative grade after it had managed to remain stable. Moody’s explicitly cited the unrest in Syria as one of the principal reasons...
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Ballot resolution
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December 06, 2011 01:50 AM
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The three-day closure of Lebanon’s second-biggest power plant over the weekend, plunging much of the country into prolonged darkness, proves that Lebanon is a country much less united than many of its inhabitants would like to think. Instead, the incident, which was carried out by employees...
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Failed Cabinet
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November 28, 2011 01:30 AM
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Lebanon’s government is on its death bed. Having sustained so much damage from internal disputes and external shocks, it is unlikely it will survive the week. There are questions about how the country has been once again saddled with a Cabinet on the brink of collapse, and the past few days...
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Path to credibility
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November 12, 2011 01:26 AM
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So much has been written about the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that is seems the country has witnessed the court’s denouement several times over. Friday saw something of a rarity in the form of genuine judicial process, a hearing at The Hague in which points of law were rigorously debated....
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All bark no bite
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November 10, 2011 01:06 AM
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The media has been busy broadcastingthe latest news on the “Iran saga” following the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report on the nuclear developments supposedly under way in the Islamic Republic. This was preceded by a veritable storm of media commotion in Israel, as top...
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Time to multitask
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November 04, 2011 01:36 AM
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On the one hand, focusing on a pressing issue is a good thing. On the other, focusing on one thing and ignoring a host of other equally pressing issues isn’t such a good thing. Lebanon’s government met this week to discuss a parliamentary election law for 2013. Every party, sect and...
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Against the grain
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November 02, 2011 01:01 AM
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Moscow is standing firmly against the possibility of outside military intervention in the crisis in Syria. The Russians have been down this road before, quite recently. They stood with the embattled regime of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya, and adopted similar, cautious stances earlier on, when it was...
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Losing backers
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October 31, 2011 12:49 AM
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It is testament to the Arab League’s butterfingered way that when it proposed Syria’s government and opposition hold discussions in Cairo the suggestion was unpalatable to both sides. The administration of President Bashar Assad swiftly rejected the idea out of hand – as if...
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Tunisia’s next step
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October 29, 2011 12:55 AM
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The week of a new beginning for Tunisia ended with the victorious Ennahda party seeking to allay fears that their election could lead to the country’s regression. Several groups had voiced disquiet that the party, with its Islamist complexion, would seek to base future Tunisian legislation...
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Too little too late
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October 27, 2011 01:18 AM
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Arab ministers made their way to Damascus Wednesday for “frank and cordial” discussions with Syrian President Bashar Assad. It only took seven months, 3,000 deaths and countless inhumane incarcerations to get them there. Even by the Arab League’s resoundingly low standards, it...
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The ultimate test
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October 25, 2011 02:05 AM
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As the vote counting continues in Sunday’s election in Tunisia, the results will be important. But more important is the manner in which the Tunisian political parties and movements deal with these results. Most observers are predicting that the Islamist party Ennahda will come out on top....
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Get in line
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October 24, 2011 01:05 AM
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Tunisia and Tunisians were busy celebrating this weekend something that many people in democracies around the world take for granted: a free and fair election. Sunday’s poll, to elect a council that will draft a new Constitution, highlighted several positive aspects of the year of Arab...
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