Tag: Arab Spring

Arab Spring 2.0?

     

Recent disturbances in Arab countries have not yet become as far-reaching as what ensued after a Tunisian fruit vendor immolated himself in protest nine years ago, but observers are already… Read more »

Arab Spring 2.0? Understanding the New Wave of Protests

     

  A new wave of protests and demonstrations has erupted across the Middle East and North Africa over the past 9 months, the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program observes. In… Read more »

Fulfilling the promise of 1989: Time for a second liberation of ‘profound renewal’

     

On the tenth anniversary of 1989, at the brink of the millennium, we could celebrate both the original triumph of the velvet revolutions and great subsequent progress. By the twentieth… 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 »

The big factor at the heart of Middle East protests

     

In the spring, major protests swept through Jordan over economic grievances and subsidy reforms. In July, protesters took to the streets in the south of Iraq, demanding that the government address persistent unemployment, underdevelopment and corruption, say… Read more »

‘The New Arab Order’: potential for democratic inclusion foreclosed?

     

In 2011, millions of citizens across the Arab world took to the streets, prompting popular uprisings from Tunis to Cairo which promised to topple autocracies and usher in democratic reforms, notes Marc Lynch,… Read more »

Has U.S. lost its ‘power of inspiration’ as a model of democracy?

     

The violent collapse of the Arab Spring has damaged the cause of liberal politics not just in the Middle East, but around the world. Strongman leaders are back in fashion… Read more »

Midwives or gravediggers? The military’s impact on democracy

     

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has cracked down on dissidents by force and run roughshod over the country’s democratic institutions. Maduro has handpicked cronies to head a constituent assembly to rewrite… Read more »

Populist infection need not mean democratic deconsolidation

     

  Whether recent signs of democratic de-consolidation are a predictor of a possible non-democratic backlash, is far from being ascertained, according to Daniele Archibugi, professor of innovation, governance and public… 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 »