Myanmar: transition, competition and trust
The Obama administration plans to announce Tuesday that the U.S. is easing sanctions on Myanmar to make it easier for American companies to do business there, The Wall Street Journal… Read more »
Category: political transitions
What is the Arabic for democracy?
The collapse of the post-colonial Arab system is, at its heart, a crisis of legitimacy. The impact of colonialism, often blamed by Arabs for their woes, should not be… Read more »
Dilemmas of Reform in Arab Transitions
Arab states in transition are confronted with a seemingly intractable task: rebuilding state institutions and social contracts in an era of global change, notes analyst Yezid Sayigh. Conventional approaches… Read more »
Why it’s wrong to say the Arab Spring failed
Simply dismissing the uprisings [of the Arab Spring] as a failure does not capture how fully they have transformed every dimension of the region’s politics, argues Marc Lynch, a… Read more »
Cubama: what President Obama should say about Cuba
Cuba has released four dissidents and put them on a plane to the U.S. just days before President Barack Obama’s historic trip to the island as part of the rapprochement with President… Read more »
Toward a negotiated transition in Syria?
Today, the Ides of March, marks the fifth anniversary of the rebellion in Syria against the Assad regime, notes Elliott Abrams, a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the… Read more »
Why illiberal democracies?
The rise of illiberal democracy in Central Europe is at least partly due to incomplete or inadequate democratic transitions from Communist rule, Le Monde’s Sylvie Kaufmann writes for The New… Read more »
UN concerned over crackdown in Egypt’s ‘republic of dread’
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression today voiced his concerns regarding the state of freedom of expression… Read more »
Religious politics signal ‘Rough Times for Democratic Change’
Democracy and models of social market economy are facing an unprecedented challenge worldwide, while the influence of religion on political institutions and legal systems is on the rise, says… Read more »
Reform, security and public order in the Middle East
The security situation facing the Middle East is grave and appears to be trending toward greater violence and instability, says a new report. The states of the region have tended… Read more »