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By Editor, on September 9th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
RSIS Commentaries
No. 129/2011 dated 6 September 2011
Synopsis
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s staunchest ally, Iran, is hinting that its support for the embattled leader is not unconditional. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is preparing for the likelihood that Assad will fall. Continue reading Is Iran Turning its Back on Syria?
By Editor, on September 9th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
China has scored two near fatal own goals in the race for influence and lucrative contracts in oil-rich post-Qaddafi Libya.
A document disclosed this weekend testifies to China preparing to supply as late as July weapons in violation of United Nations sanctions to Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi’s forces who were locked into battle with NATO-backed rebel forces. Adding fuel to the fire, the head of Libya’s rebel Transition National Council (TNC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, has accused China of blocking the release of his country’s frozen assets. Continue reading China scores fatal own goals in competition for post-Qaddafi Libya
By Editor, on September 3rd, 2011%
 Myanmar football chief Zaw Zaw urges fans to keep calm during the second leg of a World Cup qualifier in late July against Oman at Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar. The game was abandoned after fans threw rocks, shoes and water bottles onto the field and a member of Oman’s coaching staff was reported to have suffered a head injury (Source: AP Photo)
When it comes to soccer as a release valve for pent-up anger and frustration, Myanmar’s authoritarian leaders are proving to be far better students of Roman history than their embattled Arab counterparts.
If Arab leaders turned soccer pitches into battlefields for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights, Myanmar’s autocrats made soccer the modern day equivalent of giving the people bread and circuses. Continue reading Myanmar has much to teach autocratic Arab leaders when it comes to soccer
By Editor, on September 1st, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
It is hard to fathom that Colonel Moammar Qaddafi’s third son, Al Saadi Al Qaddafi, would truly be any more conciliatory to NATO-backed Libyan rebels who have effectively replaced his father as the country’s rulers, than his older, fire-breathing brother Saif al-Islam, who has vowed to fight to the bitter end. Continue reading Qaddafi sons: two sides of the same coin?
By Editor, on August 28th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey  Islamist rebel Abdel Hakim Belhadj (Source: Maggie’s Notebook)
Diplomatic tensions between Algeria and Qatar over the Gulf state’s support for NATO-backed Libyan rebels are spilling onto the soccer field.
As part of a litany of alleged anti-Algerian moves by Qatar, Algerian media are accusing the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), of seeking to undermine Algeria’s soccer prospects by offering Algerian players in Europe large sums of money and Qatari citizenship if they move to its national team. The media have not identified specific instances and no Algerian player has recently packed up his bags and moved to Qatar. Continue reading Algerian-Qatari tension over Libya spills onto the soccer pitch
By Editor, on August 25th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
ITH Nato-backed rebels capturing Tripoli and members of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s family, Libya could emerge as the Arab world’s first revolution rather than its third successful popular revolt following the toppling earlier this year of autocratic leaders in Tunisia and Egypt. That could mean faster and deeper change in Libya – but a far messier transition than those in Tunisia and Egypt. Continue reading Risk of messy transition
By Editor, on August 24th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
Synopsis
President Obama faces a public relations disaster in the Arab and Muslim world next month with his expected rejection of recognition of Palestinian statehood by the United Nations General Assembly. Obama could do much to restore his country’s image and reaffirm the US as a player . . . → Read More: US and the Middle East: PR fiasco looms for Obama
By Editor, on August 24th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey Libyan rebels capture Colonel Qaddafi's compound (Source; EPA/The Daily Telegraph)
Significant advances by NATO-backed Libyan rebels pose a significant policy challenge for China and Russia that could prompt a rethinking of their support for autocratic leaders in the Middle East and North Africa.
As Russia and China scramble to improve strained relations with the rebels and salvage future commercial ties in the wake of the fall of Mr. Qaddafi’s compound in Tripoli, policymakers in Beijing and Moscow are likely to want to ensure that they do not end up on the wrong side of history elsewhere in the region, and most immediately in Syria. Continue reading Fall of Qaddafi poses policy challenge for China and Russia
By Editor, on August 24th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey (Libyan rebels poised to take control (Source: Clickrally.com)
With NATO-backed rebels capturing Tripoli and members of Colonel Moammar Qaddafi’s family, Libya could emerge as the Middle East and North Africa’s first revolution rather than its third successful revolt following the toppling earlier this year of autocratic leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.
In many ways that could mean that change in Libya could move faster and deeper but also prove to be far messier than the transitions in Tunisia and Egypt. Continue reading Libya at crossroads: A model for the Middle East or a revolution that goes awry?
By Editor, on August 20th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
Mark Twain’s warning that “the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” must be on Syrian president Syrian president Bashar al Assad’s mind as his country braces itself for European sanctions on his country’s oil exports.
Despite the tightening noose with Western nations this week calling for him to resign and seeking to increase the pain, Mr. Assad has substantial political life left in him and is unlikely to halt his brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters any time soon. Continue reading Tightening noose leaves Assad substantial room to fight on
By Editor, on August 20th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
Sapsan high-speed train targeted (Source: The Moscow Times / RIA Novosti. Ruslan Krivobo)
Islam Khamushev played soccer as a kid with Muradom Edilbiyev and Muradom Umayev. As adults, the three childhood friends with roots in the northern Caucasus, a hotbed of Islamist militancy, planned to blow up the high . . . → Read More: Soccer binds jihadists in Russian terror plot
By Editor, on August 18th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
Syrian forces detain protesters in Latakia’s stadium (source France 24 /wires)
Syrian president Bashar al Assad has highlighted the symbolic role of soccer pitches in the Middle East and North Africa with the herding this week of hundreds, if not thousands, of anti-government protesters into the stadium of the country’s . . . → Read More: Syria’s Latakia stadium joins long list of region’s politically abused soccer pitches
By Editor, on August 17th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
Somalia, racked by civil war and famine, is seeking soccer players and fan support from the country’s large Diaspora to rebuild shattered infrastructure in advance of 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
The recruitment and fundraising campaign follows military setbacks in which the country’s Al Shabab, jihadist insurgents associated with Al Qaeda have lost their control of a majority of the capital Mogadishu to forces of the Transition Federal Government backed by African Union peacekeepers. Continue reading Somalia soccer seeks Diaspora support as Islamists lose ground
By Editor, on August 17th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
With NATO-backed rebel troops closing in on the Libyan capital Tripoli, Col. Moammar Qaddafi’s opponents are desperate to project a façade of unity, brush aside internal rifts and assure Libyans and the international community that they are capable of managing transition in a post-Qaddafi era.
To do so in the wake of the mysterious killing last month of rebel military commander General Abdel Fattah Younis, the rebel Transition National Council (TNC) has moved to reshuffle its leadership, revamp its plans for governing Libya after Mr. Qaddafi’s fall, draft a timeline for post-Qaddafi elections, unify its disparate armed groups and plan for establishing a security force once Tripoli has been captured. Continue reading Libyan rebels seek to project image of unity as they advance on Tripoli
By Editor, on August 12th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey Ala'a Hubail: Penalized for participating in anti-government protests (Source: Al Jazeera)
US president Barak Obama and Sepp Blatter, the head of world soccer body FIFA, share the same headache: what to do about Bahrain?
So far, Messrs. Obama and Blatter have essentially shied away from confronting the issue of a ruler who employs mercenaries to violently suppress pro-democracy demonstrators, including some of the country’s most prominent soccer players.
The protests in February and March that started with Shiites and Sunnis standing shoulder to shoulder were an expression of frustration about years of failed dialogue over the need for more equitable housing and land policies, fairer representation in parliament and constitutional reform. Continue reading Bahrain: A headache for Obama and Blatter
By Editor, on August 11th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu meets Syrian President Bashar al Assad (Hakan Goktepe, Turkish Foreign Ministry/Reuters)
A day of failed diplomatic flurry in the Damascus is focusing efforts on strangling the regime of Syrian president Bashar al Assad economically despite Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bid to give the failure of diplomacy a glossy facade. Continue reading Efforts to halt Syrian crackdown focus on crippling economic sanctions
By Editor, on August 11th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
RSIS Commentaries (No. 118/2011 dated 10 August 2011)
Synopsis
The protests against Syrian president Bashar al Assad’s regime is spreading to the country’s business community and middle-class residents of Damascus. There is also mounting international pressure on Assad to halt the crackdown while the US and EU prepare to impose new sanctions on Syrian . . . → Read More: Syria’s Widening Protests: Assad increasingly Beleaguered
By Editor, on August 11th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
Saudi King Abdullah (Source: AFP Getty Images)
Saudi King Abdullah’s call on Syrian president Bashar al Assad to embrace reform and his withdrawal from Damascus of the kingdom’s ambassador has boosted hopes of the international community coming together to force a halt to the bloodshed in Syria. The Saudi . . . → Read More: Saudi criticism of Syrian president Assad isolates Iran but fails to address key issues
By Editor, on August 7th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
Two Saudi women have established a women’s soccer and basketball team in the port city of Jeddah in a bid to persuade the government to allow and support women’s right to engage in competitive sports in a country that officially bans women from competitive sports.
In a rare airing of debate on the issue, soccer team captain Rima Abdallah and basketball player Hadir Sadqa appeared on a Saudi television sports program risking a confrontation with authorities that severely curtail women’s rights, according to a transcript of the program released by Washington-based Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI). Continue reading Saudi women campaign for recognition of right to play soccer
By Editor, on August 5th, 2011%
By James M. Dorsey
Controversy about the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar is fuelling suggestions to radically alter the calendar of European soccer to make it a summer instead of a winter game.
The debate threatens to open another rift in already scandal ridden world soccer body FIFA with the German football association calling for an investigation into the awarding, major European clubs mulling the possibility of establishing a breakaway league and the head of the European Club Association (ECA) as well as of Bayern Muenchen, Karl Heinze Rummenigge, publicly questioning whether FIFA president Sepp Blatter is fit for his job. Continue reading Controversy about Qatar World Cup fuels calls for European summer soccer
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