Category: Arab Spring

Signs of redemption in Arab Spring’s ‘second phase’?

     

What is the connection between Algeria, Egypt and Sudan, and do the rising protests worry the region’s autocratic leaders, France24 asks (above). In Algeria and Sudan, the protesters hold strong… Read more »

Mini-Arab Spring? ‘Khashoggi was right: Arabs still want democracy’

     

Before his death, the late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was trying to set up several organizations to promote the cause of democracy in the region — particularly one that aimed, among… Read more »

Arab Spring: the sequel?

     

The mantra of the Arab Spring is back. Protesters in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories [and Sudan] have demanded better governance of late, prompting talk of… Read more »

Can repression stop new series of protests in the Arab world?

     

Algeria is only the latest country in the Arab world to manifest the symptoms of deep political malaise and corresponding public discontent, says Leslie “Les” Campbell, Middle East and North… Read more »

Reclamation: new Arab discourse empowers civil actors

     

ISIS may be defeated and devoid of territory, but its ideology continues to spread, The [London] Times reports. Jihadi fighters are not necessarily driven by religious ideology, disenfranchised or lacking… Read more »

Egypt faces ‘worst crackdown on freedoms in modern history’

     

  Eight years ago this week, protests erupted in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, with throngs of Egyptians demanding an end to autocratic rule and chanting the slogan, “Bread, freedom, social justice,”  Jared… Read more »

Middle East braced for ‘future without stability or freedom’?

     

Unless something changes, the Middle East should brace for the worst of both worlds: a future without stability or freedom, the FT suggests. Public support for U.S. military action and… Read more »

Tunisia’s resilient democracy ‘at a critical inflection point’

     

  Thousands gathered Monday in Tunisia’s capital as the country marked eight years since a democratic uprising ousted its long-time strongman. The rally came amid deepening economic troubles in the… Read more »

Projecting Islamic ‘soft power’ in wake of failed Arab Spring

     

U.S. disengagement from the daily irritations of Middle East politics has encouraged Arab allies—particularly Saudi Arabia—to adopt more aggressive foreign policies, which has in turn required an ideological language for… Read more »

Tunisia offers ‘tough lesson’ for MBS

     

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi’s hosting of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman caused much discontent and led to large-scale civil society protests in the streets of Tunis, reports suggest…. Read more »