The uprisings of the Arab Spring seemed to represent a dramatic turning point in history, the sudden collapse of regimes and political systems few expected to be so fragile. But… Read more »
The conditions that spurred the Arab uprisings, including government corruption, failed economies and deteriorating social services, have only intensified in many countries, exacerbated by 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic, notes analyst Megan O’Toole…. Read more »
Like authoritarians elsewhere, [Arab autocrats] rely mostly on domestic tools, notes Amy Hawthorne, deputy director of research at the Project on Middle East Democracy. These include control over the military… Read more »
Moroccans, fed up with the slow pace of social and economic progress, have been boycotting three major national companies, demonstrating that the public is increasingly taking an alternative approach to… Read more »
If Egypt’s liberal activists had tolerated Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi’s illiberal but weak rule until he could be voted out, democracy might have had a chance, David D. Kirkpatrick suggests… Read more »
The Arab Spring largely failed to reduce the scope of sectarian and religious radicalism in Arab societies, notes Khaled Sulaiman. However, will this failure lead to a reevaluation about the… Read more »
Egypt’s new NGO law has militarized civil society and demonstrates how security leaders have exploited the need to counter a genuine terrorist threat as a justification to suppress political parties,… Read more »
The shortcomings of democratization as a vehicle for regional reform and transformation are confirmed by the findings of the latest Arab Democracy Index, analysts suggest. The intra-Arab collaborative index is… Read more »
Morocco’s authorities have carried out a chilling wave of arrests rounding up scores of protesters, activists and bloggers in the Rif, northern Morocco, over the past week following months of… Read more »
The experience of the Islamic political parties in North Africa shows that they are, just like non-Islamic parties, capable of change and adaptation to changing circumstances, says Mohammed Masbah, an… Read more »
