The Islamic State is here to stay. That is the conclusion of the book “ISIS. Inside the Army of Terror” by journalists Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan. This important book is the […]
ISIS Is Here To Stay (Column)
Is Islamism In Decline? (Column)
On December 6 Thomas L. Friedman published a column with the title How ISIS drives Muslims from Islam in the New York Times. I totally agree with this. It’s only strange that […]
Message of ISIS: Please Don’t Attack Us. (Column)
The official spokesperson of the Islamic State (ISIS), Abū Muhammad al-‘Adnānī ash-Shāmī, gave a long and disturbing speech. It is an interesting statement as it clarifies the state of mind of the […]
Wanted: An Urgent Strategy To Stop Barbaric IS. (Column)
“We don’t have a strategy yet”. These were the shocking words of president Obama yesterday. Today (30 August) Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz responded by warning that the threat of terrorism […]
Kurdistan: On A Straight Line To Independence. (Column)
R.I.P. Iraq. The country is no more. Iraq has ceased to exist. That is my conclusion after a short, but intensive visit to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. It is not […]
In Memoriam: Bassem Sabry (1982 – 2014)
Yesterday, on April 30, we buried our dear friend Bassem Sabry in Cairo. He died in an accident. He was only 31. Since the revolution in 2011 Egyptian activists have buried many […]
Mr Blair: Your View Of The Arab World Is Dangerously Simplistic (Column)
On Wednesday 23 April 2014, Tony Blair gave a speech at Bloomberg articulating his vision on the Arab world.[1] On one point I fully agree: the world must engage itself in […]
Assad Is The Problem, Not The Solution (Column)
Tomorrow, on January 22, 2014, the Geneva II conference will start. After some deplorable miscommunication on the invitation of Iran, all main actors decided to participate. The aim of the conference is […]
How The EU Is Losing Its Entire Neighbourhood (Column)
Many Europeans were baffled when they saw the recent images from Kiev’s Independence Square, or, as it is now being called, the EuroMaidan: Hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets, […]
Ten Books That Changed The Way I Am Looking At The World (Column)
I am not very much into “challenges”, but after being nominated by Samah Iyad Atout, Amir Ahmad Nasr en Peter De Jonge I have to give up my resistance. Here are the […]
Syria: The Land Of Broken Promises (Column)
“Yesterday the regime killed three of my close family members. They were in prison since one year. Now they were killed on the same day.” Salim Idriss, General Commander of the FSA, […]
What Should The EU Decide On Egypt ? (Column)
I arrived back in Cairo late in the evening, during curfew. The streets were as good as empty and the soldiers at the checkpoints were fairly friendly. However, at a distant I […]
How President Morsi Ousted Himself. A Too Short Overview. (Column)
Confusion all around in Egypt today. Everywhere discussions rage on whether or not the military did a coup, if June 30 was a second revolution or a protraction of the 2011 revolution. […]
Egypt: Will There Be Order After The Chaos? An Outsider’s Perspective. (Column)
Everyone in Egypt woke up on Monday 8 July 2013 with the horrible news that the army had shot dead 51 Muslim Brothers near barracks in Cairo. Immediately, two different stories got […]
The Future Leadership Institute 