Can Tunisia’s democratic deterioration be stopped?
Tunisia’s main opposition leader, Rached Ghannouchi, was arrested last week during a raid on his home, the latest in a wave of arrests by Tunisian President Kais Saeid, the Soufan… Read more »
Category: Middle East/North Africa
A ‘striking process of detransition’: MENA autocrats aim to bury the Arab Spring
The violence in Khartoum, which began as Sudan attempted to transition to democracy, already has killed hundreds of people and left millions trapped in urban areas, sheltering from gunfire, explosions… Read more »
Is Tunisia’s democracy being destroyed?
Tunisia’s tragic descent from Arab Spring democracy into dictatorship is continuing with the arrest and detention of Rached Ghannouchi, the world’s most important Islamic democrat and the spiritual leader of… Read more »
Democracy’s ‘shafts of light’ in Africa and MENA
The 2022 Democracy Index, a ranking by EIU, gave the Middle East and North Africa the lowest score of any region in the world. In second place was the rest… Read more »
‘The Iran That Could Be’: Dialogues on a transition to secular democracy
While the news of Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody in September 2022 sparked protests across Iran, it is not the first time Iranian women and girls have been at… Read more »
Unthinkable Revolution? Economy the ‘next trigger’ for Iran protests
While Iran’s civil unrest has diminished, the economic hardship for millions of Iranians continues to deteriorate, The Financial Times reports: The rial has lost more than a third of its… Read more »
U.N. decries Tunisia’s ‘deepening crackdown’ against dissent
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, today expressed his concern over the deepening crackdown against perceived political opponents and civil society in Tunisia, including through measures taken by… Read more »
Gauging the future of Iran’s democracy movement
A long-detained opposition leader in Iran called for a nationwide referendum about whether to write a new constitution for the Islamic Republic amid nationwide protests shaking the country, AP reports. Mir… Read more »
Illiberal democracies’ ‘chilling lesson’ for Israel
The weakening of Israel as a bastion of democracy in the Middle East is not in the interests of the western world, and could possibly become a danger to the… Read more »
Iran’s ‘transformational season of protest’ prompts fierce crackdown
Four months into Iran’s uprising, protesters are still in the streets. Authorities are still answering with violence and intimidation, The Washington Post reports: Nowhere is this bloody stalemate more evident than in… Read more »