Welcome to epektasis.net

what is epektasis? It is primarily about politics. But it is also about human rights, democracy, good governance, peace, justice and reconciliation. Epektasis.net deals with issues impacting the peoples of the Middle East - conflict backgrounds, symptoms, realities, fears and possible solutions - that are viewed through a dual Middle Eastern-European lens.

Inasmuch as possible, my copyrighted articles in epektasis - posted also on different websites or published in different magazines - adhere to the overarching Christian ethos of striving to 'stretch forward' (epekteinomenos in Greek, from St Paul in Phil 3:13) - politically, ecumenically and legally - the elements of peace, justice, reconciliation, dignity, non-violence and security. Recent Articles

Palestine: an idea or a reality?

But this formula has been wanting. The roadmap that was endorsed and promoted by the Quartet has been an unmitigated disaster not only in terms of good will and good faith but also in terms of its dividends and results. (read more...)

Syria: The Mirror Walls of Shame!

So all in all, where does one go from here in Syria? Will the meeting of the Friends of Syria in Istanbul on 2nd April adopt any substantive decisions that could relieve the current impasse? Or will more embassies simply shut their doors in Damascus? I am not a prophet to predict the future, but(read more...)

Where is the MENA region today?

So much so that a broad swathe of geography that has always had its own outstanding characteristics or particularities blended into a single frame not because the region became uniform but simply because the uprisings that initially overran many of those countries shared a common and peaceable purpose. (read more...)

A New Egypt for all Egyptians?

In those past twelve months, I have often written that those 'revolutions', 'revolts' or 'uprisings' spell out a nascent form of Arab revivalism that has awakened ordinary peoples' thirst for dignity, citizenship rights and economic as well as social justice in the whole MENA region. (read more...)