New Issue of Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal

New Issue of Middle East Review of International Affairs Journal

Volume 16, No. 3-4 – Fall 2012, Total Circulation: 36,743

THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF SHI’ISM

By Phillip Smyth

This piece will examine the strategies utilized by radicals within the Shi’i clerical realm, namely those who push wilayat al-faqih, the politicized Iranian conception of Shi’ism, on more traditionalist forms of Shi’i Islam. In addition, a look at efforts by those traditionalists to counter Iran’s and their allies’ tactics will be presented with an assessment on how these factors

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RUSSO-TURKISH DIVERGENCE (PART II): THE ENERGY DIMENSION

By Younkyoo Kim and Stephen Blank

Energy issues figure prominently in the Russo-Turkish relationship. Their impact is not nearly as clear-cut as are the Iranian and Syrian issues. Turkey and Russia have a complex, evolving relationship characterized by mutual dependencies in the oil and gas spheres

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WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN: A HUMAN RIGHTS TRAGEDY A DECADE AFTER 9/11

By Hayat Alvi

Over a decade after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and the military campaign in Afghanistan, there is some good news, but still much bad news pertaining to women in Afghanistan.  The patterns of politics, military operations, religious fanaticism, patriarchal structures and practices, and insurgent violence continue to threaten girls and women in the most insidious ways 

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SYRIAN REGIME STRATEGY AND THE CIVIL WAR

By Jonathan Spyer

The Asad regime has always suffered from a legitimacy deficit.  When an uprising against it began in March 2011, the regime possessed few options other than brute force.  Following a few desultory attempts at offering cosmetic reforms, the regime declared war against the insurgency in June 2011, seeking to crush it by force

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VIOLENCE IN IRAQ

By Aymenn Jawad Al Tamimi

This article discusses general trends as regards violence in Iraq as well as the important question of the total number of violent civilian deaths since 2003. In addition, the operations of active militant groups and exacerbating factors for violence are examined

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THE ARAB SPRING AND THE PROSPECTS FOR GENUINE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL REFORMS

By Elie Elhadj

There is a guarded optimism that the Arab Spring could result in genuine religious and political reforms. This optimism is grounded in the belief that for the new governments to be reelected, they must reduce unemployment and poverty quickly and convincingly. Dogmatic posturing produces neither jobs nor prosperity. Islamists, Salafists, and jihadists–with Wahhabi inspiration and cash–will assail the new policies as un-Islamic. The confrontation could marginalize Islamist and other extremists, cement democratic governance, reform Shari’a laws, and lead to the evolution of a more tolerant, peaceful Islam 

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The Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya P.O. Box 167, Herzliya, 46150, Israel [email protected] – Phone:  +972-9-960-2736 – Fax: +972-9-960-2736