Category Archives: Politics

Impasse: #US Senate Hearing “#Syria Refugee Crisis” #SyrianRefugees

“Only 31 [Syrian] refugees were allowed into the U.S. in 2013,” said Senator Durbin, who added that none of the Gulf Cooperation Council members have committed to accepting Syrian refugees and that “these countries need to step up as well” … Continue reading

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Town of Kafranbel in Syria Is 2nd Wave of Revolution

Note: On January 7th, the U.S. Senate will hold another hearing on the humanitarian crisis in Syria.   Senator Durbin, (D-IL) will preside as Syrian activists provide testimony.  We are live-blogging and live-tweeting The Coalition for a Democratic Syria (CDS), which … Continue reading

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Filed under Interests, PIDE (Policy, International Development & Economics), Politics

Happy 2014 Pitaconsumers: Wrestling with a form of secularism that doesn’t alienate.

Dear Pitaconsumers, Time to start 2014 with some good news, sandwiched by bad news, wrapped up in more good news.  That is definitely not a formula for objective blogging. But, it is tooo easy to note all the worrisome predictions … Continue reading

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Filed under Analysis, Interests, PIDE (Policy, International Development & Economics), Politics, Technology

Does coverage of government corruption overshadow coverage of business corruption in the Middle East & North Africa region?

“The world with all countries resized to their population” Source: Twitter @RichardMclellan Notes: Egypt is 2nd largest populated country in Africa; among largest in MENA region–with Iran, Turkey and Pakistan. Middle East and North Africa: Holding Public and Private Corruption … Continue reading

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Turkish Opposition Party, CHP, Visits U.S.A After 37 Years

  Photo by PITAPOLICY: Kemal Kilicdaroglu at the Kenney Auditorium of the Johns Hopkins SAIS building.   “The government in Ankara is democratic in name only,” wrote the head of a Turkish opposition party in the Wall Street Journal.  On … Continue reading

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Western Sahara: Resolution Between Three, Not Two Parties

PITAPOLICY is excited that its founder, Mehrunisa Qayyum, contributed her first piece to the Atlantic Council’s MENASource Blog.  The Atlantic Council is a Washington, DC based think tank that houses the Rafik Hariri Center focusing on the Middle East & … Continue reading

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Conflict Resolution: #Iran Breaks Deadlock

Dear Pitaconsumers, Step one in the deadlock with Iran broke last night around 9PM EST as Iran’s Chief Negotiator, Javed Zarif, shared an historic tweet: @JZarif “We have reached and agreement.”   #Iran #Irantalks”. World powers by way of the … Continue reading

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Middle East Institute Annual Conference: Managing Transition, Containing Conflict but #NODrones

“You can’t have peace in #Syria without #Iran in negotiations.”~Mohsen Milani Middle East Institute 67th Annual Conference: Managing Transition, Containing Conflict From November 14th to 15th, the Middle East Institute held its 67th annual conference.  To kick off the MEI … Continue reading

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Filed under Analysis, Interests, PIDE (Policy, International Development & Economics), Politics, Technology, Uncategorized

Colbert Interviews Trita Parsi, Iran Negotiations Expert: Reroll the Dice

PITAConsumers–you know how much PITAPOLICY is a fan of The Colbert Report!  Last night, we couldn’t help but “ruminate” and share thoughts on the book mentioned in Parsi’s interview: “A Single Roll of the Dice”. (Note how ruminate probably comes from … Continue reading

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When the Government Fears the Satirists You Have Change #Egypt

When the people fear the government you have tyranny….when the government fears the people you have liberty. -Thomas Jefferson So does Egypt have tyranny or liberty?  Or maybe in Egypt’s case: When the satirists fear the government you have tragedy…when … Continue reading

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