The inaugural issue of Kurdish Studies is out. Hassan H. Elkatawneh (Walden): The Egyptian Army and the Ethical Dilemma. From We_Magazine, compromise has been in short supply since Tunisia sparked the Arab Spring nearly three years ago — but this small North African nation has once again broken new ground with a political deal between longtime enemies among the Islamists and the secular old guard; and there is no "middle" in the Middle East today: The last thing the Middle East needs is another conflict — but Lebanon looks set to once again become the battleground for larger powers vying for regional supremacy. The conscience of Syria: Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi interview activist and intellectual Yassin al-Haj Saleh. How Goldman Sachs rescued Libya: If a new lawsuit by the Libyan sovereign investment fund is to be believed, Wall Street bankers were able to accomplish what decades of sanctions could not — Gaddafi’s downfall. Iraq's House of Cards: With the country collapsing around him, Nouri al-Maliki's strongman image is a sham — and that's exactly why he's so dangerous. Elias Muhanna interviews Bassam Haddad, co-founder of Jadaliyya, on telling alternative stories about the Arab world, understanding the life cycles of revolution, and confronting “the weight of ancient problems”. Zaheer Kazmi on the limits of Muslim liberalism. Is this the end of Sykes-Picot? While there is unlikely to be effective governance in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq anytime soon, the borders of the states created by European colonialism in the 1920s are not about to collapse (and more). Why are Arab countries holding so many seemingly meaningless votes? Marc Lynch investigates. “Facebook is like a religion around here”: Brian Brivati on voices from the “Arab Spring” and the policy making community.
