Essam Erian throws his hands up in mock surrender. "I cannot answer this question," he says, smiling broadly. "This is a question for me to ask, for you to answer."

The US gives approximately $110?billion a year for the Afghan war and about $3.2?billion for military and economic aid to Pakistan .

Western fears of Islamist takeover in post-Mubarak Egypt are unfounded. During recent protests, the Muslim Brotherhood has demonstrated a commitment to peaceful political participation.

Television commentary during the Egyptian revolution has revealed the ignorance of some people about the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in what the West fears is a potential theocratic coup.

While US presidents and European leaders have long viewed Afghanistan as a strategic square on the global chessboard, Pakistan sees its Afghan neighbour in the context of a fierce regional

Paul J. Balles looks at the hazards of relying on the mainstream media, which are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of conglomerates and moguls, such as

Lawrence Davidson considers the problems of private realities – the fact that ”there are people who do occasionally attain power whose private realities are fantasy driven” and the fact that

Sama Adnan considers the crippling impact of the US intervention in Afghanistan on the American economy and society, highlighting among other things that while President Obama has cut federal salaries

Former US President Bush's book Decision Points, which reveals and highlights mistakes made by him during the Iraq war campaign alleges that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had informed Bush that

President Obama took office vowing to strike al-Queda forces inside Pakistan if President Zardari’s government failed to ferret out the nations’ terrorists networks.