Tag: Elliott Abrams

The truth about Cuba’s ‘transformation’

     

The Cuban regime’s sympathizers – including those like Angela Davis who never protested Fidel Castro’s brutal anti-gay repressions – insist that the Communist stalwart may be moving closer to democracy, but more… Read more »

War of ideas ‘within the democratic world’?

     

Barack Obama’s electoral success in 2008, running against the Iraq war, returned conservatives to the role of the opposition, and gave them time to reflect on foreign policy fundamentals. At… Read more »

Dissident’s death highlights rise of Saudi ‘mobster state’

     

A bipartisan group of 20 senators have forced an investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi –  a Saudi journalist and U.S. resident who has been missing for more than… Read more »

Gaza: Hamas’s social warfare strategy in action

     

  Palestinian protests on the Gaza-Israel border have dropped off over the past two days, with Israel on Wednesday pointing to what it said were Egyptian efforts to restore calm… Read more »

Is there a Path to Democracy in the Arab World?

     

The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (above) is an exemplar of Palestinian civil society, notes Council on Foreign Relations analyst Elliott Abrams. The group, which monitors corruption in Gaza and… 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 »

The next Arab Spring ‘simply a matter of time’?

     

Autocratic allies in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, have reportedly been told that the U.S. will not “lecture” them on democracy and human rights. U.S. attempts to explicitly… Read more »

Merits and limits to democracy promotion in the Middle East

     

To advocate true democracy in the Arab world is a tough sell at the best of times. In the wake of the “Arab Spring,” a half-decade that witnessed some of… Read more »

What the royal Saudi purge means: prelude to reform or power consolidation?

     

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been considered a bulwark of stability in the Persian Gulf region. But Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s extraordinary weekend roundup against alleged corruption shook… Read more »