Catherine Shakdam

Catherine is a political analyst ​and reporter ​for MintPress focusing on​ the Middle East and the rise of ​radical movements. The Associate Director of the Beirut Center for Middle Eastern Studies, she has contributed her analyses to the Middle East Monitor, Foreign Policy Association, Your Middle East, IslamistGate, Majalla, ABNA, Open Democracy, International Policy Digest, Eurasia Review and many more.

Is There Room For Islam In Democracy, Freedom Of Speech, And Secularism?

“If Islam is portrayed as a mortal enemy to Western civilization and values it is because it poses a formidable obstacle to imperialistic hegemonic interests,” a Canadian scholar tells MintPress.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
People carry posters during a rally in support of Muslim Americans and protest of President Donald Trump's immigration policies in Times Square, New York, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017. (AP/Andres Kudacki)

LONDON --- Amid growing concern that radicalism is gaining ground against Western democracies, media, politicians and scholars have increasingly moved to focus their narratives on the notion that Islam is inherently opposed to the Western core values of democracy, freedom of expression, and secularism. “You cannot say that [jihadi terrorism] has

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Saudi Royal Infighting Threatens US Standing In The Middle East

A peaceful transition of power is quickly devolving into fierce infighting as members of the extended House of Saud jockey for power. These squabbles could have major ramifications beyond Saudi borders, even impacting U.S. foreign policy in the region.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 2nd right first row, poses with Shura members at consultative Shura Council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's new monarch isn't wasting time. Since assuming the throne Jan. 23, King Salman has elevated some of his closest relatives and sidelined previous power-brokers, tightened

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Washington Plays Russian Roulette In Yemen

Washington has pulled out of Yemen diplomatically, closing lines of communication with the Houthis, which now hold the reins of power. One Yemeni analyst describes it as “Iran 1979 all over again.”

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Mideast Yemen

A supporter of Houthi Shiites holds a Yemeni flag during a rally in support of the Houthis, at a sports stadium in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015. WASHINGTON --- Since September, when President Barack Obama touted Yemen as a successful model to be followed and emulated across the Middle East, the poorest nation of the Arabian Peninsula

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INTERVIEW: Lebanese Analyst Explores What’s Behind The Political Smokescreen Of War

As Syria’s civil war spreads beyond its own borders and threatens to engulf the region, Marwa Osman tells MintPress about the human toll of this conflict in Yemen, a country where frail infrastructure is being further crippled by the threat of war and the influx of Syrian refugees.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Smoke rises from the Syrian city of Kobani, following US airstrikes outside Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Monday, Nov. 17, 2014.

LONDON --- Marwa Osma is a Beirut-based political analyst and lecturer at Lebanese International University (LIU). An expert on Islamic movements and the Levant region, Osman has been following developments in Syria and Lebanon closely, looking beyond the political smokescreen to understand the realities of a conflict which has devolved into a

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The US’ Best Chances At Confronting Terror Lie In Its Greatest Foes

Washington would likely never consider working with Syria, Iran or Russia. But when it comes to fighting groups like ISIS, they may be Washington’s only hope.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam

Members of the Iran's Revolutionary Guard march during an annual military parade marking the 34th anniversary of outset of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, outside Tehran, Iran.  Iran has been leading the ground war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. WASHINGTON --- Against the backdrop of diplomatic and political black hole that is the post-Arab

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With Secret Prisons, The US Challenges The Very Principles It Says It’s Fighting For

“By turning its back on international law, America has set a dangerous precedent. In many ways it has legitimized war crimes, justifying torture as a necessary evil,” one political analyst tells MintPress News.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
In this photo reviewed by US military officials, an American flag waves within the razor wire-lined compound of Camp Delta prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba on Tuesday, June 27, 2006. The Supreme Court this week is expected to rule on the legality of President Bush's decision to create U.S. military tribunals for the detainees at Guantanamo, the first such tribunals since World War II.

WASHINGTON --- The United States was traumatized by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, shocked by the notion that dark powers might seek to destroy freedom and democracy, the very principles upon which the nation was built. Yet it is the broader world which bears the scars of America’s war on terror. Reeling from the attacks on its soil on 9/11, the

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With Riyadh, How Much Longer Can Washington Look The Other Way?

One political analyst tells MintPress that “this particular friendship is interest-based. Politically, culturally and ideologically, those two powers stand on polar opposites, and therefore, their alliance will shift or dissolve based on each player’s needs.“

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
President Barack Obama meets new Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdul Aziz in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015.

President Barack Obama meets new Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdul Aziz in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. LONDON --- Saudi Arabia and the United States’ long-standing friendship is undergoing an unprecedented stress test. The two allies, which have weathered decades of wars, one Arab Spring movement and the rise of Islamic

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