Co-authored by Grace Williams, an intern in the West Asia Programme Lowy Institute and student of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Sydney. Part 1 of this series; part 2. Egypt\'s women have been a focus of media attention in the Arab Spring, but women have a long history of activism in

Nowadays the All Blacks use the Maori haka as the ultimate intimidatory weapon before kicking off in test matches. It is a challenge to a fight, and the intensity in the eyes of All Blacks of both Maori and European heritage can stir the soul and intimidate opponents. But way back in the

One of the imponderables this early in the life of the Arab Spring is the degree to which the political upheavals will result in substantive, rather than cosmetic, improvements to women\'s political roles in the Arab world. My first post on this subject argued that, while women have invested in

Sport is one of the few avenues open to the world\'s minnows to make their mark by competing with top countries. Some have earned an enviable reputation as a result. There are not too many times that the US would be nervous about taking on Jamaica in anything, but in the 4x100m relay the Caribbean

The announcement by Defence Minister Stephen Smith opening up all ADF employment streams to women may upset some of the \'not in my day\' brigade, but in reality it will likely have minimal impact on the ADF. Forget the faux arguments based on cultural issues, gender bias, group cohesion or even

I was going to go on with my \'Women in the Arab Spring\' posts but thought that, given I am being used as an online Kewpie doll, it may be apposite to say a word or two.  Before people start looking at my name and imputing gender bias and condescension, I would like to point out

My thanks to the eagle eye of colleague Anthony Bubalo who brought this interesting photo of Saif al-Islam Qhadhafi to my attention. Jubilant after his reappearance in front of the media in Tripoli after news of his arrest was apparently greatly exaggerated, he appears to be wearing

Imagine two Arab cities of approximately 700,000 people, each surrounded by the military forces of autocratic regimes intent on crushing rebellions against its rule. In one case, the West mounts an argument based on the concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the UN authorises \'all

A friend of mine, still in uniform, was reading an Interpreter debate thread about the utility/futility of our presence in Afghanistan and asked me what I thought was meant when one contributor wrote about the \'...lack of mutual understanding (that) has underwritten much of the tension

As if they didn\'t have enough to argue about, Israel and Lebanon are squaring off over another border dispute. But this one may prove to be even more intractable than the arguments over the Shebaa Farms, because this time there are significant resources involved. The Levant Basin may well

For a country that believes in its own exceptionalism and its ability to export individualism and liberty, supporting popular revolts against autocratic rulers provides some distinct foreign policy challenges for the US. The growing assertiveness of Saudi Arabia is perhaps at the top of

I admit to being extremely disappointed with my colleague Raoul Heinrichs\' prescription for an Afghan security strategy: Australia\'s Afghan contribution is pointless, therefore the solution is to bring everyone back behind the wire ASAP and then withdraw.  I can only assume that Raoul wrote

\'Dancing on the Heads of Snakes\', the title of Victoria Clark\'s book about governing in Yemen, says much about last night\'s third refusal by President Saleh to sign a GCC-brokered agreement for him to step down in thirty days\' time. Saleh has gone through the motions of negotiating and even

Last week\'s announcement by the Gulf Cooperation Council that it was accepting membership applications from two new members, Morocco and Jordan, raised a few eyebrows.  At first glance, the choice appears a bit strange. While Jordan at least has a common border with Saudi Arabia,

If there is one way to endear oneself to the Saudis, it is to display Sunni Islamic solidarity in the face of external opposition. This must be the reason for Malaysia making the public offer to contribute peacekeeping troops to Bahrain in order to \'de-escalate tensions\'.  There is no

It\'s not often that Lebanon can look out at the region and consider itself an island of stability in a sea of political turmoil. But while members of the Mubarak family go on trial, the former Tunisian leader Zein al Abidin ben Ali enjoys exile in Saudi Arabia, Muammar Qadhafi is subject to

The news about bin Laden\'s death came while I was en route to Beirut on a research trip. In the short time I have been here it has been interesting to see how the story of the death has been portrayed on western vs Arab television.  On BBC, Sky and CNN there has been nothing but bin

Those in favour of intervention in Libya were quick to cite R2P as the justification for their actions. As the conflict begins to resemble a stalemate, the disconnect between the message and the means has become apparent. While I agree philosophically with the principle behind R2P, the devil is

As I watched coverage of the pro-government rallies in Damsacus on al-Jazeera, it was instructive to note the camera dwelling on the senior Syrian religious figures (both Christian and Muslim) atop a balcony in an obvious embrace of sectarian unity. That image illustrated one of the issues that

Last week I wrote about the Bahraini Government's decision to allow Saudi and UAE security forces into the country to quell the anti-regime demonstrations. I said the Shi'a protesters may have no choice but to look to Tehran: ...if the ruling regime gets assistance from other Sunni