CIAO DATE: 06/2012
Spring 2012
Nonviolent Action Strategy: Lessons from Bahrain's Demonstration Movement (PDF)
Loghman Fattahi
From February 14 to March 16, 2011, a demonstration movement swept Bahrain employing nonviolent action strategy to effect political and economic change in country. The success of a nonviolent action strategy rests on the ability of organizers to maximize the participation of individual and collective actors in the demonstration process. Participation increases the probability of overcoming the state's pillars of power, chiefly its security forces. Maximizing and managing participation is best achieved by building upon and sustaining the three pillars of a nonviolent action strategy: nonviolent unity, planning, and discipline.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula through the Framework of International Humanitarian Law (PDF)
Simon Henderson
While Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has garnered significant media attention, its role in the Middle East raises legal issues that are not currently being explored. With AQAP having presences in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, questions arise as to which legal frameworks can be utilized: international humanitarian law, human rights law, or criminal law. This paper will discuss some of these issues, with a particular focus on international humanitarian law.
A Regional Arms Race? Testing the Nuclear Domino Theory in the Middle East (PDF)
Rizwan Ladha
In November 2011, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a much-anticipated report on the Iranian nuclear program, highlighting the fact that Iran has made significant progress on research and development toward a possible nuclear weapons program. Nonetheless, the report concluded that Iran’s leaders had yet to make the decision to actively pursue the bomb.
Islamic Project Finance: Shari'a Compliant Financing of Large Scale Infrastructure Projects (PDF)
Rishad Sadikot
“If there is no need for Islamic cash, then people won’t hunt it down because of the added complexity of structuring transactions.” Islamic finance has never seen greater appeal. Economically, Islamic finance is experiencing renewed interest due to growing dissatisfaction with the economic status quo and discredit suffered by conventional finance following the financial crisis. Politically, the Arab spring will ensure that Islamic finance plays a more extensive role in the economies of the region due to the fact that long repressed Islamist parties, which will now have a larger influence in the political landscape, have the promotion of Islamic finance as one of their top priorities. Furthermore, he success of post-revolutionary regimes depends on economic recovery.