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Robert Tait

Also by Robert Tait

May 19, 2011
Obama Attempts To Get In Step With Arab Spring

Five months into what has become known as the "Arab Spring", U.S. President Barack Obama is to deliver a keynote speech setting out U.S. policy on a much-changed Middle East. The address comes amid widespread criticism of perceived U.S. indecision over how to handle the upheaval.
May 13, 2011
Saudi Guest-Of-Honor Status At Book Fair Raises Censorship Hackles

On a list of things Saudi Arabia is popularly associated with in the public mind, literary tradition and a love of books is unlikely to figure high among them -- even if this is the land that, courtesy of the Prophet Muhammad, gave the world the Koran.
May 06, 2011
Ahmadinejad Floored By Bugs, Spirits, And Djinns

When President Mahmud Ahmadinejad of Iran tried to fire his intelligence minister, it brought him into open conflict with the Islamic republic's most powerful figure, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who forced him to reinstate the minister. Now Ahmadinejad's position appears to be weaker than ever amid unremitting attacks on his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, and the arrest of two aides for "spiritualism."
May 04, 2011
For Arab Awakening, Bin Laden Was Already Dead

As the muted response to Osama bin Laden's death indicates, Arab society has expanded its ideological options beyond the traditional choice between the U.S. and anti-Western jihadist philosophy.
May 02, 2011
Importance Of Bin Laden's Death May Lie In Its Symbolism

The death of Osama bin Laden has struck a huge symbolic blow in the war on terrorism first launched by the Bush administration. Yet in practical terms, the significance may be less momentous, while his hiding place -- in a Pakistani Army garrison town near Islamabad -- raises troubling questions.
April 27, 2011
The Ice Melts In Iran's Cold War With Egypt

For more than 30 years they were at daggers drawn. Now, after the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak in February, Egypt and Iran are in the midst of a thaw that could see the restoration of diplomatic ties, frozen since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
April 13, 2011
Is Iran Still Center Of Middle East's 'Great Game'?

The wave of unrest coursing through the Arab world has taken the international spotlight off Iran, long Washington's top Mideast policy priority. Yet suspicions persist that for some policymakers, events elsewhere are merely a distraction from the region's "Great Game" -- the contest between Iran and the United States.
March 29, 2011
Syria’s Assad, On The Ropes, Finds Friends In Strange Places

With a reputation as one of the Middle East's most ruthlessly authoritarian regimes, few thought the wave of Arab revolt would affect Syria. But now President Bashar al-Assad is facing the biggest crisis in his 11-year rule following a wave of demonstrations that have left dozens dead. Yet despite Syria's staunchly anti-Western stance, the fall of Assad's regime would likely not be welcomed by the United States or Israel.
March 11, 2011
Battered And Bruised, Rafsanjani May Have Fought His Last Battle

His ability to recover from political defeat has given him Lazarus status in Iranian politics. But now Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president and pillar of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, may have suffered one blow too many after being forced to surrender the chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts.
March 04, 2011
LSE Head Quits Over Libyan Ties

The head of an elite British university has resigned amid revelations that it accepted millions of dollars from Libya to train the country's future elite. The resignation of Howard Davies as director of the London School of Economics came after the institution was already embroiled in controversy over its relationship with the son of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi.
March 03, 2011
Bushehr Setbacks Trigger Iranian Nuclear-Safety Concerns

Repeated delays in the opening of a showpiece Iranian nuclear reactor are triggering concerns over Tehran's ability to safely run a civilian nuclear-power plant without the risk of a catastrophic accident, analysts say.
February 24, 2011
Why Iran Is Different

On first glance, it looks like an archetypal no-brainer; a large Middle Eastern country with a repressive regime and a simmering, angry protest movement.
February 15, 2011
For Egypt, Do All Roads Lead To Turkey?

It's big, has a Muslim majority, a young population, and a traditionally all-powerful military. Turkey is now being hailed as the perfect blueprint for Egypt to emulate as it plots a path from authoritarianism to democracy. But is the "Turkey model" all it appears?
February 12, 2011
Whose Side Is History On After Egypt's 'Berlin Moment'?

Egypt is in a state of revolutionary euphoria after President Hosni Mubarak capitulated to the wave of popular protests by resigning. For millions of celebrating Egyptians, it is a joyful moment of great promise. But it is also freighted with great uncertainty and risk.
February 08, 2011
'An Island In An Orgy Of Violence' -- A Firsthand Account Of Being Detained In Cairo

RFE/RL reporters Robert Tait and Abdelilah Nuaimi were dispatched to Egypt to cover the country's ongoing political unrest. But shortly after their arrival, they were detained by Egyptian police and handed over to the feared Mukhabarat intelligence services.
February 02, 2011
Syria Next Up For 'Age Of Rage'

As in Egypt and Tunisia, Syrian opposition activists are said to be organizing a "Day of Rage" in Damascus to voice opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. It raises the prospect of the contagion of mass dissent spreading from Western-backed Arab states to a country noted for internal repression as well as staunch opposition to the policies of the United States and Israel.
January 31, 2011
Just Who Is The Muslim Brotherhood?

For decades they have been in the wilderness, repressed and seen as a dangerous malevolent force by Egypt's entrenched political elite. Now the Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as a pivotal player in the country's future after joining the popular uprising against President Hosni Mubarak. But how radical is the brotherhood’s leadership and will they clamor to transform Egypt into an Islamic state?
January 28, 2011
Egyptian Unrest: Local Movement Or Voice Of The 'Arab Street'?

The ongoing protests rocking the political establishment in Egypt, mirroring those that recently toppled the government in Tunisia, are being accompanied by a wave of apparent copycat movements across the Middle East. Is Egypt's popular movement representative of a wider discontent on the "Arab Street" - - or is its relevance primarily local?
January 25, 2011
Lebanon Near Brink, Hizballah Flexes

The installation of a billionaire Sunni businessman as prime minister marks the latest escalation of tensions in Lebanon arising from the 2005 assassination of the outgoing prime minister's father and which threaten to plunge the country into conflict.
January 20, 2011
Turkey's Status Buoyed As Six Powers, Iran Arrive In Istanbul

Turkey's ability to bridge the gulf in understanding between East and West is coming sharply into focus as Iran and six world powers gather in Istanbul to resume protracted talks over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

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