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.

The War Is Over, But Afghanistan Remains Shackled By Neo-Imperialism

“Afghanistan is no closer to controlling its institutions than Washington is to defeating terror. Afghans have inherited a disbanded mercenary army which the state cannot possibly maintain on its own,” a political analyst tells MintPress.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Afghanistan

A U.S. soldier fingerprints a man passing through a police checkpoint south of Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: Heidi Vogt/AP America’s war in Afghanistan is over! In a statement to the press on Dec. 28, U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed that after 13 years of bloody conflict, “the longest war in American history is coming to a responsible

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Exploring Identity In Israel, “A Bubble Inside A Bubble Inside A Bubble…”

Being a Jew in Israel goes beyond a simple declaration of faith or a social reality. It carries and implies therein a certain political and legal standing, adding additional dimensions to individuals’ sense of self. So what is Jewish identity?

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Israeli soldiers and relatives of new Jewish immigrants from the U.S. and Canada, wave Israeli flags to welcome them as they arrive at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 23, 2013.

Israeli soldiers and relatives of new Jewish immigrants from the U.S. and Canada, wave Israeli flags to welcome them as they arrive at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel.  Photo: Ariel Schalit/AP In 2013, Lia Tarachansky, an Israeli national and the Israel-Palestine correspondent for The Real News Network (TRNN), directed “On the Side

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Pakistan May Finally Be Taking Its Terrorism Problem Seriously

Islamabad is giving in to public pressure to ramp up its counterterror efforts and revise its policies in this regard. So far, that’s meant sidestepping the constitution to try terror suspects in military courts and lifting a moratorium on the death penalty for convicted terrorists.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Pakistani army officer

A Pakistani army officer stands in front of a wall riddled with bullet marks inside the Army Public School attacked last Tuesday by Taliban gunmen, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014. The Taliban massacre that killed more than 140 people, mostly children, at a military-run school in northwestern Pakistan left a scene of heart-wrenching

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Why Palestinian Statehood Poses Such A Threat To Israel

“Israel fears Palestine, as its existence simply denies and poses a challenge to its territorial claims. Everything Israel has done since 1948 has been toward the annihilation of Palestine. There is no tip-toeing around it. Of course Tel Aviv will oppose Palestine’s statehood claim.”

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. Israel's prime minister said Sunday that the public expects the government to "return to normal conduct" and hinted at the possibility of early elections if his coalition does not overcome a crisis linked to a contentious nationality

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Iraq’s Own War On Terror Devolves Into Religious Crusade

Architects of chaos and war, ISIS has exploited pre-existing and enduring ethno-religious choke points in Iraq, playing on old instabilities to further its own imperialistic religious ambitions. What happens next could be more than just political unravelling.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Iraq

Iraqi security forces stand guard as Shiite pilgrims march towards Karbala for the Arbaeen holiday in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014. (Photo: Karim Kadim/AP) As Iraq continues its descent into the fires of war, the integrity of its state institutions and borders straining under the weight of unprecedented and aggravated stress, the

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Israel’s White Supremacy Agenda Targets Other Jews, Arabs, Africans

Palestinians are not the only target for Israel’s animosity and ethno-centric policies. This doesn’t make Palestinians’ pain any less real or poignant; if anything, it only serves to demonstrate Israel’s ingrained ethnic and religious bias.

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Israel

Israel continues to wrap itself in an aura of exceptionalism in light of the horrendous crimes the Jewish people suffered under Nazi Germany, yet it has become virtually impossible to deny or even ignore Israel’s ever-more apparent chauvinist tendencies and ethno-religious labeling within its own borders. World leaders have proven to be

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Oil Wells: The New Frontlines In Yemen’s Sectarian Violence

The implications of the battle being waged for access to Yemen’s energy resources extend far beyond the country’s borders. As one analyst told MintPress, “Yemen is an international choking point.”

Catherine Shakdam
By Catherine Shakdam
Yemeni soldiers stand guard in front of Yemen's President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi's house. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

While Yemen has been hailed a revolutionary success by the White House, presented to the world as a perfect example of political cooperation, well-planned institutional transition and a partner in counter-terrorism initiatives, the impoverished nation has been faced with crisis after crisis over the past three years and experienced little in the

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