It has been four years since the Arab Revolt was ignited and the resulting social upheaval has all but left the region in tatters. From Egypt to Syria and Iraq, it appears that the old elites in these countries are unable to remain in power without substantial international support. Beset by social unrest and the rise of violent non-state actors, some of these states have lost their ability to act autonomously in the international arena. They have become proxies to other regional powers, most notably Saudi Arabia and Iran, as they expand their quest for regional dominance.

Once again, Greece has raised the issue of reparations for the colonial period and its tragedies, demanding Germany pay reparations for the money that the Nazi government looted from Greece, including its gold reserves at the time, and the destruction and devastation it caused during the Second World War.

I have borrowed the title of my article from Anthony Doerr’s novel that was published last year about a blind French girl who lived during World War II. The story takes place from Germany’s invasion of France until the landing of the Allies in Normandy and beyond.

The crime that took place in front of and inside the Itihadiya Palace, a few months after Mohamed Morsi’s rule, raised a sort of panic and early concern for a wide number of Egyptians. Several court rulings have recently been issued against the murder of a group of peaceful protesters, as well as seriously injuring others. However, the deep concern that has started to take shape since that moment was over more than the crime of murder and injury. More precisely, we mean here the crime scene and the details in which the presidential palace was involved in.

Among the many nightmares of this decade, and the plenty of unfortunate outcomes of the Arab Spring, is the birth of Islamic State in Iraq and Sham, or ISIS, or DAESH, or whatever else you want to call it, even if you refer to it as “those violent young Muslims who cover their faces and dress in black” (which is one of the descriptions I have actually heard).

The whole world saw the Egyptian prime minister sobbing when reading his speech at the conclusion of the Egypt Economic Development Conference held lately in Sharm El-Sheikh. It was a moving scene on a human level. The same goes for the "selfie" moment when a group of youth crowded around the president, full of human warmth and spontaneous emotion that incited laughter and applause.

A call by Egyptian journalist Cherif Choubachy for veiled Muslim women to take off their headscarves (hijab) has stirred widespread controversy in Egypt.

A call by Egyptian journalist Cherif Choubachy for veiled Muslim women to take off their headscarves (hijab) has stirred widespread controversy in Egypt. Choubachy has also proposed a “take off the veil” rally to be held at Cairo’s Tahrir Square. While some have welcomed Choubachy’s proposal, others vehemently oppose the idea. A senior official at Al-Azhar, Egypt’s highest Sunni Islamic institution rejected the call, stressing that the head-cover is a religious must for female Muslims once they reach puberty.

The American flag consists of 13 horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with six white. The stripes represent the original 13 colonies and the stars represent the 50 states of the Union. It has three colours; red symbolises hardiness and valour, white symbolises purity and innocence, and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice. As you travel around the country or walk down the street in your neighbourhood; you see the ominous American flag waving everywhere, including on restaurants, businesses, boats, bikes, underwear, cars and in people’s own private spaces. Wal-Mart recorded the biggest sale of American flags this year.

In late 2013, the Thomson Reuters Foundation conducted its third annual poll on women’s rights in Arab states. 336 specialists designed the poll to assess the extent to which states adhere to key provisions of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which most Arab League states have signed, ratified or acceded.

As Foreign Minister of Israel, Tzipi Livni made headlines when, during a 2007 negotiation with the Palestine Liberation Organization, she proclaimed that “I was the Minister of Justice. I am a lawyer, but I am against law; international law in particular.”

The Arab Spring, the election of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood’s success in securing political power brought a new brand of Arab leaders to the public arena – men with beards. Arab military dictators don’t usually wear beards; they substitute big beards with big black glasses. Some like Anwar El-Sadat and now Al-Sisi shave their beards, while letting their praying-mark (Zebeebah) grow. Other Arab dictators wore moustaches as a sign of vitality and masculinity. This look was popularised by Saddam Hussein in Iraq, where almost every man has a moustache. Saudi kings came up with their own goatee beards. Yasser Arafat, of course, had a soft beard, but to most Westerners, he simply seemed to be unshaven. Beards come in different shapes, length and styles. They

Blood and fire hysteria is sweeping a number of Arab countries due to the actions of governments or extremist religious or sectarian groups, or regional and international interventions, all of which inflame crises and take a tremendous toll on wretched peoples.

At the end of the ‘90s, everywhere I went I was asked the same boring question as a journalist living in Algeria. It is a question that haunted the people who asked me and exhausted me: Is it true that Islamist groups are the ones behind all the terrorist crimes in Algeria? Easy and malicious as the question was, I was very careful to give an objective answer, away from acquitting any parties or giving a ready answer of yes or no.

Dialogue with an arrogant group that is drunk on false victory is no longer feasible. Being decisive is the only strategic choice for Arabs to save Yemen before it collapses into chaotic civil war or falls into the clutches of Tehran, both of which would be catastrophic.

"You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep spring from coming" – Pablo Neruda In Arabic and many other Semitic and Hamitic Afro-Asiatic languages, there is a peculiar feature of consonantal transformation, a sort of metamorphosing of consonants that is an intriguing diachronic morphological trait.

The current Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, designed to prevent Iranian-backed forces from gaining power, symbolises the Gulf’s new assertiveness. This is unfolding as the various Gulf states seek to hedge their bets with different strategies that complement rather than replace the regional US security umbrella.

Ten days into the beginning of “Decisive Storm”, and we are still divided on who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. Led by Saudi Arabia, the coalition forces continue to strike the military facilities and the strategic locations under the control of the Houthis, and will continue to do so until they restore the legitimacy of President Hadi.

The Arab Summit was held this year amid crucial circumstances, an outcome of internal disturbances in some Arab countries and external interference in others.

The 22nd March was World Water Day – dedicated as such in 1993 by the UN General Assembly. Ashoka Arab World has focused on environmental protection since our inception and long recognized the importance of finding and supporting leading social entrepreneurs working in this area. Seeing the water crisis our region is facing is a further reminder of the urgent need to take action.

We are entering the fifth year of crisis in Syria, with no end in sight. Instability is threatening neighboring countries and indeed the whole region. A political solution that could put an end to this unprecedented crisis remains on a distant horizon.