Since the summer of 2013, Turkey’s masses have been enthralled in on-going protests against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his administration’s growing authoritarian policies and practices. With Erdoğan responding much like Syria’s Assad regime through police brutality against protestors and media censorship, anger and outrage have spread quickly throughout Turkey as well as the … Continue reading »
Category Archives: In the Middle East
Babak Zanjani: Who’s Afraid of The Economic Basij?
The first few months of 2014 have been tumultuous for Turkey’s government and its citizens. After over a year of monitoring and case-building, the Ankara Police Department’s Crime Bureau for Anti-smuggling and Organized Crime arrested dozens of government officials and businessmen in one of the most widespread corruption and bribery operations in Turkey’s recent history. … Continue reading »
Beqaa: Lebanon’s Drug Valley
The Beqaa (وادي البقاع) is a fertile valley in Lebanon, located east of the capital city of Beirut. Situated between Mount Lebanon to the West and Anti-Lebanon Mountains to the East, Beqaa Valley has historically been the most important farming region in Lebanon and a major agricultural source since the invasion of Alexander the Great. … Continue reading »
Setad: The Ayatollah’s Assets
In recent months, after years without formal diplomatic relations, the once frigid relationship between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran began to thaw. Analysts have speculated that the shift in Iranian policy is the result of crippling economic sanctions placing sufficient pressure on the newly elected, moderate-seeming President Hassan Rouhani. However, … Continue reading »
