Arab Spring

Hamilton, Ont. (Special to Informed Comment) – George Floyd has ignited an “Arab Spring” in the United States. Like the now-fallen dictators of Egypt and Tunisia, the current American regime demonstrates that it does not serve the people. It consumes them. Trump’s America is a failed state. That’s why other countries rally in support; they […]

Arab Spring

The Authoritarian Logic of Killing Protesters

David Faris

Chicago (Special to Informed Comment) – On October 9th, 2011, Egyptian army vehicles plowed into a Coptic Christian protest outside of the Maspero state television building in the capital city of Cairo, killing more than two dozen peaceful demonstrators. Less than a year after the Arab Spring came to Cairo and dislodged the country’s longtime […]

Arab Spring

The Arab Spring was not a Failure: Interview with Noah Feldman

Joseph Richard Preville

Joseph Richard Preville interviews Noah Feldman: Detroit (Special to Informed Comment) – The Arab spring was a momentous era of revolutionary people power in the history of the Middle East and North Africa, beginning in Tunisia in 2010. Noah Feldman offers an interpretation of the meaning of the Arab spring and its aftermath in the […]

Algeria

2019: Americans Slept while Street Revolts Reshaped Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Algeria

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In 2019, the Middle East was shaken by a new round of street revolts. As the year began, Abdelaziz Bouteflika had announced a fifth run for the presidency of Algeria. Then the peaceful “revolution of Smiles” broke out and by April he had resigned. A small elite has for decades […]

Arab Spring

How the Mideast Officer Corps and Trump derailed the Arab Spring– and Hope

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com ) – “Al-Shebab,” said my student Jerry early in the fall 2010 semester. “We’re calling our small group al-Shebab. It means ‘The Youth.’” From his name alone, I wouldn’t have guessed his background, but he was proud of his family’s Egyptian roots and had convinced his classmates to give their group an Arabic […]

Arab Spring

Tunisia is back on a knife edge – here’s why

contributors

By Pamela Abbott and Andrea Teti | (The Conversation) | – – While celebrating the seventh anniversary of the ousting of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisians have been demonstrating against their government. Thousands have been taking to the streets in Tunis and throughout the country, in some cases leading to arrests and running battles […]

Arab Spring

The Tunisian revolution seven years on

contributors

By Lakhdar Ghettas | (OpenDemocracy.net) | – – Seven years after the Tunisian revolution one can dissect four main conflict issues in Tunisia today. A rally marking the third anniversary of the uprising that ousted long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14, 2014 in Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis. Picture by Palacio […]

Arab Spring

Women as a force for Democracy in Repressive Egypt

contributors

Anwar Mhajne and Crystal M Whetstone | The Conversation | – – Democracies in sub-Saharan and North Africa have regressed in recent years. Ethnic and religious minorities, political opposition, women and the LGBT community still struggle for equal rights and the right not to experience violence. Activists throughout Africa, many of them women, are working […]

Arab Spring

The Arab Spring and the Western Winter

contributors

Ishac Diwan | (Project Syndicate) | – – BEIRUT – There are many striking parallels between the “Arab Spring” that began in 2010 and the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum, the election of US President Donald Trump, and the far-right resurgence across Europe. In each case, an old order fell, and progressive parties have been too […]