Protesters in Syria have cheered on the revolutionaries in Libya, and the fall of Tripoli to a popular uprising last Saturday and Sunday gave new heart to the Syrian reform movement. So far the Syrian demonstrators have been hampered by relative lack of support in the capital of Damascus itself. Damascus is controlled by the […]
Hurricanes and Global Warming
With the approach of Hurricane Irene, climate activists are reminding us that more intensive hurricanes are produced by warmer water, so that global warming over time will increase the severity and frequency of storms. This is true, and it is frightening. Some climate scientists even think we need a “level 6” category for new, fiercer […]
Iraq Adopts Iran’s Backing of Assad
Interview with me, mirrored from The United States Institute of Peace Iran Primer. Q. What impact will the call by the United States and major European powers for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down–followed by heightened U.S. and EU sanctions–have on Syria-Iran relations? Cole: They will push Syria even more into the arms of […]
How to Avoid Bush’s Iraq Mistakes in Libya
The illegal American invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation was so epochal a catastrophe that it spawned a negative phrase in Arabic, “to Iraqize” or `arqana. Tonight I heard an Alarabiya anchor ask a spokesman for the new government in Libya whether there as a danger of the country being “Iraqized.” He was taken aback […]
TV, Twitter, Facebook and the Libyan Revolution
The USG Open Source Center summarizes what is known about television and social media penetration in Libya (see below). Television is light years more important than the internet. Almost everyone has access to television, while only 5.4% have internet (and of course Qaddafi cut off the internet for the past few months). All those wonderful […]
Qaddafi’s Complex Falls to Revolutionaries
Libyan revolutionaries have captured the Bab al-Aziziya compound of deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi. CNN’s Sara Sidner reported it live and on site (video here). The revolutionaries delieriously fired their weapons in the air in a crescendo of celebratory fire. The compound was one of a handful of pockets of resistance remaining in the capital where […]
New Libya, Welcomed in Mideast, Rejects NATO Bases
Despite the unfinished character of the Libyan Revolution, it is clear that the days of Muammar Qaddafi are numbered. How has this news been received in the rest of the world? There is a lot of hope for Libya as an independent country, yet one friendly with neighbors and new allies. Even those lukewarm about […]
Top Ten Myths about the Libya War
The Libyan Revolution has largely succeeded, and this is a moment of celebration, not only for Libyans but for a youth generation in the Arab world that has pursued a political opening across the region. The secret of the uprising’s final days of success lay in a popular revolt in the working-class districts of the […]
The Great Tripoli Uprising
As dawn broke Sunday in Libya, revolutionaries were telling Aljazeera Arabic that much of the capital was being taken over by supporters of the February 17 Youth revolt. Some areas, such as the suburb of Tajoura to the east and districts in the eastrn part of the city such as Suq al-Juma, Arada, the Mitiga […]
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