Links 11 July - 16 August 2015

Post-summer break link dump. We are resuming our normal programming...

• The ‘magic words:’ How a simple phrase enmeshed the U.S. in Syria’s crisis | McClatchy DC
  One of Obama's big mistakes.
• So…Yalla, Bye | Foreign Office Blogs
  Funny send-off by departing UK ambassador
• Syria: The Threat of Indifference by Hugh Eakin and Alisa Roth | NYR Daily | The New York Review of Books
• ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape - The New York Times
• In Egypt, Disaffected Youth Increasingly Drawn To Extremism
  On Matareya.
• Sexual harassment in Saudi Arabia is widespread
• The Launch Of The "New Suez Canal" Was Really, Really Weird
  Buzzfeed gets snarky
• To Vote or Not to Vote: An In-Depth Study of Egypt’s Electoral Participation
• The Arab-US Strategic Partnership and the Changing Security Balance in the Gulf | Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Liina Mustonen-The Gender Dimension of the Authoritarian Backlash in Egypt, Spring 2015-TPQ
• The Military Balance in a Shattered Levant | Center for Strategic and International Studies
• We completely agree: Egyptian media in the era of President el-Sisi - Committee to Protect Journalists
• The Struggle for the Leadership of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-Carnegie Middle East Center - Carnegie
  Interesting piece by George Fahmi.
• For Egypt rulers past and present, Suez a symbol of glory
  Good piece on Suez Canal parallels
• Don’t Call Us the Lebanese Kardashians: Abdelaziz Sisters Stir Up the Arab World - WSJ
  Groan.
• Egypt: New foundations — FT.com
  On tackling slums
• A reality check on the New Suez Canal | Mada Masr
  Good run-down.
• Argus: Bigger Suez Canal Does Not Guarantee Increased Traffic | World Maritime News
  Bottom line.
• Sex, morality and the law in Morocco
  There's been a string of controversies lately
• Les intellectuels égyptiens à nouveau fascinés par le despote
  Basma Abdelaziz
• Unprecedented Pressures, Uncharted Course for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood - Carnegie
  Brown and Dunne.
• Egypt: Police Account of Deadly Raid in Question | Human Rights Watch
  Signs that MB members may have been killed after arrest.
• Who is running the Egyptian state? - The Washington Post
  Nathan Brown and Katie Bentivoglio
• Short Cuts
  Chase Madar on the weaponisation of human rights