Placing the spotlight on the nuclear ambitions of states in the Middle East serves to distract attention from the real threat posed by Israel's nuclear arsenal, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
As a permanent representative at the International Atomic Energy (...)
While the drums of war between the US and Iran may have abated, at least for the time being, the Arabs have yet to take a position on Tehran's role in the region, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
I recently had the opportunity to take part in a seminar (...)
Mutual interests, not historic rivalries, are what should guide the unfolding of Arab relations with Iran, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
Speaking at the opening of the cultural session of Al-Jasra Club in Doha, I said that Arab-Iranian relations should be (...)
Relations between Cairo and Washington are as ambiguous as ever, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
Many Arabs imagine that Egypt's relationship with the US is extremely close and that Washington regards Cairo as a strategic ally and not just a partner in the (...)
France's new president is positioning himself as a kind of replacement for Tony Blair as Washington's darling, argues Mustafa El-Feki*
It took some time to grasp the significance of a Tony Blair- style leader in the Elysée. At first I imagined that (...)
The contemporary Arab world resembles the Ottoman empire on the brink of its collapse, writes Mustafa El-Feki
The legacy of the "sick man" continued to interest Europe and the world for more than a century. Then the Ottoman empire collapsed and put (...)
Surely to Israel's delight, Palestinian unity has collapsed -- an ominous sign for the future, and a tragedy for all Arabs, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
As the Arab nation endures ever more difficult circumstances and harsh challenges we are always (...)
Mustafa El-Feki* reflects on the enlightening message Iran's former president delivered in the name of tolerance during his recent visit to the bastion of Islam, Al-Azhar
The visit couldn't have been more appropriately timed. Storm clouds are (...)
Iraq is a saddening disaster, ripped apart by foreign powers, but despite all the misery, light can still break through the clouds, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
One thing this region is not short of is a heart-rending scene. One such scene happened on (...)
Mustafa El-Feki* remembers the Suez crisis as the high point of Arab solidarity, and looks at the effects and importance of that momentous time
Arab solidarity peaked in 1956. Across the Arab world, people embraced the Egyptian cause as if it were (...)
Mustafa El-Feki* reflects on national and religious resistance, and finds the former rather more compelling
The accession of Hamas to power in Palestine brought up questions with an immediate bearing on the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This (...)
Lamenting the lack of attention Arabs pay to Africa, Mustafa El-Feki* outlines the basis of common cause and reasons for tension between the two
It comes as something of a surprise that although two-thirds of the population of the Arab world live in (...)
Though Sunni, Egypt by history is founded on a Shia base, confounding agitators who want to drive a confessional wedge into the heart of Islam, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
Much of the anger and criticism sparked by President Hosni Mubarak's recent (...)
Iranian one-upmanship could yet prove disastrous for the entire region, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
Iran and its nuclear programme have become the West's major obsession now that Tehran has thrown down the gauntlet in such a way as to propel the case (...)
Though universalist in outlook, political Islam found fertile ground in Egypt's 20th century history. Seventy-five years on, integrating secular and religious political trends is yet to be achieved, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
The rise of "political (...)
While outside powers have long tried to break Lebanon apart, its embedded traditions of co-existence and openness can, and should, keep it together, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
To the Arab world Lebanon has long stood as an oasis of intellectual and (...)
In prioritising stability the Middle East has compromised the very thing it seeks to protect, argues Mustafa El-Feki*
The US secretary of state recently said something quite profound about the Middle East: the regimes of the region, said Condoleezza (...)
Mustafa El-Feki* explores the likely fall-out of regional developments
The Arab world appears to have entered a new chapter in the trials and tribulations that have beset it over recent decades as it faces a sudden onslaught of regional and (...)
It really doesn't matter where the secretary-general of the Arab League comes from, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
Algiers raised a subject that has been taboo for decades. Then it backed off, officially at least. The subject, about which Arab diplomats (...)
Commentary:
An Indo-Arab blunder?
Over the years, the Arab world has let India down even though the Asian giant championed the Palestinian cause, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
When I compare how India used to view the Palestinian question, back when I was (...)
There is no point, writes Mustafa El-Feki*, in becoming excited over a change in leadership if it is not accompanied by a change in direction
The past few years have seen new leaderships emerge in many Arab countries, including Qatar, Jordan, (...)
Hostility between the American public and Islam resides in fiction as much as fact, argues Mustafa El-Feki*
I have just spent several weeks in New York, during which time a single question was on my mind: will the wave of anti- Arab and anti-Muslim (...)
There can be no equivocation over the slaughter of hostages in Iraq. It must be roundly condemned, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
The practice of taking hostages and detaining civilians has increased to the point where every Muslim should be concerned over (...)
The Arab world's increasing focus on reform would benefit from an examination of the recent past, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
In the 1950s and 1960s the Arab world was divided between traditional systems with a tribal structure and history and (...)
The Arab nation must move beyond conspiracy theories and see how it is itself responsible in part for its woes, writes Mustafa El-Feki*
"We blame time, but the fault is ours. Ask History how our hopes were lost." I cannot help but recall this saying (...)