"Each year the private and public sectors need to create 85,000 jobs but they are only creating 55,000, which means we have 30,000 new unemployed people entering the labor market every year in Jordan."

This stark reality was conveyed by the outgoing Minister of Education for Jordan, Dr. Tayseer Al...

"It's impossible to impose peace from the outside. It won't happen," bellowed confidently long-time Israeli spokesman Mark Regev in his robust Australian accent. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon expressed incredulously, "They say they are against violence but then they use political violence." Even the Prime Minister...

"Good enough is no longer enough."

These were the words delivered just two weeks ago, by the CEO of the Syria Trust for Development, the NGO started by the First Lady of Syria, Asma al-Assad during a panel discussion - "The New Voice: Civil Society and...

Last week a controversial news site Islam Times pronounced that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had died yesterday in Morocco at the age of 86. Quickly, the Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal responded, "I'd like to assure you about the health of the King. He is in excellent shape."...

At around 1 a.m. Friday night, the modern-day Pharaoh arose in Egypt from his slumber to belatedly deliver a message to his country, the wider region, and indeed the world, in response to what was an unprecedented day of protests. Dressed in a sharp black suit, with his jet-black hair...

As my Emirates flight from Dubai touched down Thursday evening in Beirut, I had the feeling of returning to a land where deja vu is a fact of daily life. The same names persisting for two decades or three or even more. Gemayal. Hariri. Nasrallah. Jumblatt. Aoun. Geagea. Berri. Recycled...

DOHA -- When Qatar was awarded the World Cup for 2022 it was viewed derisively in many Western capitals. Who was this small nation? Where was this country? Why Qatar? Even US President Barack Obama claimed afterwards, "The wrong decision was made." This country of 1.6...

DOHA -- In a room flowing with dignitaries, scholars, architects and other invited guests, the Aga Khan called for the need to close the gap of ignorance between the Muslim world and the West, asking in particular: Can these societies exchange knowledge but on an equal footing?

"There is a deep linkage between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - structurally. We have to shift the divide and elevate the discourse...As Muslims we also have to get back to our values - where are the synagogues that were there for hundreds of years in [my birthplace] Egypt?"

...

The Obama administration has laid out the red carpet for peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. Yet what will this new round of negotiations accomplish? In this short clip, originally posted on my blog TheGeopolitico.com (as part of the series LocoWorld TV) I explain...

In recent days the 'Mosque Wars' over the proposed building of an Islamic community center several blocks from Ground Zero, has reached new heights. President Obama himself has waded unsuccessfully into the controversy while critics have painted the project almost as a harbinger of the apocalypse. The

"This is the answer for the people asking why March 14 members were the ones who were assassinated. The answer is that Israel wants the blame to fall on Syria and Hezbollah."

On a hot summer night, without losing a beat, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, offered

BEIRUT -- When the temperature in Dubai drops below 40 C or 110 F there is cause for excitement, because you will be able to walk outside. Of course, if you wear glasses, they may quickly fog up with condensation leaving you blind as a bat. Thus, it is the...

Today, Kabul played host to over 40 foreign ministers and other international leaders representing the broad coalition of the "unwilling, but we can't abandon Afghanistan" group of countries. This event -- the ninth such conference in nine years (but the first in Afghanistan) -- ended with...

I am extremely concerned that this is our ninth year at war. I am extremely concerned about the health of our force. I am concerned about the rotation arrangement [for troops]. ... I see the stress in every level of our chain of command, from those who are doing the...

"Reaching independence is easier than building a nation. While we can blame time bombs left by the colonists, we cannot [and should not] blame them forever." Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad spoke these words last week to an enthused collection of policymakers, researchers, and businessmen at the Dubai School...

DOHA -- "You cannot underestimate Obama," claimed New York Times columnist Roger Cohen to an unconvinced audience of 300 at the Qatar-based Doha Debates last night. He and Sami Abu Roza, former adviser to the Palestinian President, tried to make the case for Obama's Middle East peace efforts. In the...

Some 4000 miles away from Tehran, Iranian Captain Ali Karimi walked onto a football pitch this week in Seoul wearing a green wristband -- and it made international headlines. While I was even further away from him, basking in the Libyan sun, I think it was at that point I...

As President Obama looks to foster a new dialogue with the Muslim world, I want to give voice to an Islam that is too often ignored in the media in both East and West. It is the Islam that I have grown up with. It is the religion that inspires...