Category: Arab Spring

How social media undermines democratic transitions

     

Egypt’s 2011 uprising has become synonymous with the successful use of social media to overthrow an entrenched authoritarian regime, note analysts Sean Aday, Deen Freelon and Marc Lynch. Popular and… Read more »

Arab world needs new social contract

     

Back in 2011 and 2012, the root causes and drivers of the pro-democracy ‘Arab Spring’ protests were clear. The notion of a “new social contract” came to symbolise the popular… Read more »

The ‘grim reality’ of Tunisian democracy at risk

     

The hype about Tunisia’s political progress has become completely disconnected from the reality on the ground, argues Moncef Marzouki, who served from 2011 to 2014 as the first elected president… Read more »

Jordan election a ‘small step toward democratic reform’

     

Jordan‘s parliament election on Tuesday is being touted as proof that the pro-Western monarchy is moving forward with democratic reforms despite regional turmoil and security threats, AP’s Karin Laub writes:… Read more »

Tunisian party ‘separating Islam from politics’

     

The Ennahda movement has renounced political Islam and fully embraced Tunisia’s secular order, seeking to work within it, Taylor Luck reports for The Christian Science Monitor: Ennahda’s journey from a… Read more »

Aid scandals highlight Palestinian ‘institutional decay and corruption’

     

Israeli prosecutors on Tuesday charged a  employee of the United Nations in the Gaza Strip with providing material assistance to Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the territory, including helping… Read more »