In The News

Protests’ Comeback in the Arab World: Economist

April 9, 2019
Recent protests in Algeria and Sudan have brought popular images of the so-called 2011 Arab Spring back to the fore – yet with a stark difference. As an article for the Economist observes, “The wars and chaos that followed the Arab spring have cooled the ardour of activists and their regional patrons …. [and] autocrats have sharpened their tools of repression in order to quash protests at home...

Algerian Leader Resigns: BBC

April 4, 2019
Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in power since 1999, has resigned following weeks of massive street protests, reports BBC News. The president had already promised not to run for a fifth term, with the current term ending April 28, but the army said he was no longer fit for the position. Protesters want sweeping reforms and an end to corruption. “The demonstrations have also called...

France Bans Some Protests After Riots: AP

Sylvie Corbet and Angela Charlton March 19, 2019
France’s prime minister has announced a ban on some protests after repeated and violent clashes in several locations, including the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris. France has been under siege by yellow-vest protests for four months and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced the ban after “rioters set life-threatening fires, ransacked luxury stores and attacked police around the Champs-Elysees...

Algerian Judges on Presidential Vote: Reuters

Lamine Chikhi March 11, 2019
Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 82, has held office for four terms since 1999 and seeks a fifth despite allegations of fraud in previous votes and his stroke in 2013. “More than 1,000 judges said they would refuse to oversee Algeria’s election next month if President Abdelaziz Bouteflika contests it, in one of the biggest blows to the ailing leader since the start of protests now in...

Showdown Over Aid for Venezuela: New York Times

Nicholas Casey, Anatoly Kurmanaev and Ernesto Londoño February 23, 2019
Venezuelans have suffered for years from shortages of food and other necessities due to economic mismanagement by the regime led by Nicolás Maduro since 2013. More than 10 percent of the country’s population has already fled, the violence exacerbating a refugee crisis International aid supplies are waiting near the border in Brazil and Colombia. Opposition leader and head of the country’s...

Spiegel: If Macron Fails, Europe Fails

Henrik Enderlein December 24, 2018
Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election without support of a traditional political party on a platform of strengthening the European Union in revolutionary ways. But the yellow-vest protests that began over a fuel tax are eroding his authority. He has led numerous reforms for the French job market, wage negotiations, taxation and the budget deficit. “Macron has already reformed his...

Washington Post: Cultural Anxiety Fuels France’s Protests

Ishaan Tharoor December 11, 2018
The “gilets jaunes,” or yellow vest movement, target French cities with violent protests and economic disruptions. The protests are spreading to Belgium, the Netherlands and Britain. One analyst suggests that what began as opposition to a tax designed to slow climate change has exploded into a working-class revolt. Yet surveys suggest that 79 percent of French citizens regard climate change as a...