In The News

Why Egypt Matters

Sallama Shaker July 25, 2013
Democracy does not stop with elections, argues Sallama Shaker, a former Egyptian ambassador and former assistant minister of foreign affairs, who is now a visiting professor at Yale University. Transition of power in Egypt, with the military ousting the democratically elected president and promising elections soon, followed massive protests. Egyptians of all ages, placing their trust in the...

Containing the Fire in Syria

Ryan Crocker July 23, 2013
The urge to do something, anything, to stem the bloodshed in Syria is intense. Ryan Crocker served as US ambassador to six countries including Syria, 1998 to 2001. Now a Kissinger senior fellow at Yale University, he reviews the history and explains how the civil war in Syria began well before the Arab Spring protests. In 1982, the Assad regime decimated the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in Hama and...

The Arab Spring: Has It Failed?

July 16, 2013
A quest for democracy has been underway in North Africa and the Middle East since 2010. Supporters of democracy for the region may assume that the Arab Spring movement is doomed, with a military coup that deposed Egypt’s elected president and civil war raging in Syria, suggests an essay in The Economist. Critics may blame Islam, the predominant religion, and suggest that modern authoritarianism...

Egyptian Coup Splits Middle East

Dilip Hiro July 11, 2013
Massive protests on Egyptian streets, followed by a swift military coup, have underscored confusion in the region. Syrian leaders, struggling with their own insurrection, relying on support from the Islamist government in Iran, have suggested that religion is no basis for governance; Iran, after crushing opposition protests in 2009, urged Egypt’s protesters to resist frustration. Some US...

Algeria’s Shadow Hangs Over Egypt’s Revolution

Roula Khalaf July 11, 2013
Algerian Islamists advise supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi to resist militarization in avenging a military coup, or that could lead to civil war and foreign jihadists hijacking Islamist agendas, advise Algerian Islamists. “This was sound counsel from a North African state that suffered more than 10 years of civil war after a 1991 Islamist electoral victory was abruptly cancelled by...

A New Age of Protests

Frida Ghitis July 5, 2013
Turkey and Brazil are pointed to as economic models for developing nations. However, massive protests – and two contrasting responses – may tarnish their image. In Istanbul, a police crackdown contributed to a small protest over plans to destroy a park exploding in size and intensity, prompting questions if the Erdogan goals are security or authoritarian control. In Brazil, the largest protests...

Need to Tear Down Another Wall

Jean-Pierre Lehmann July 4, 2013
At the 2013 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, more than 300 Israeli and Palestinian civic leaders, led by captains of industry Yossi Vardi and Munib R.Masri, called for a break in the impasse on peace talks, instructing Israeli and Palestinian political leaders to achieve in the shortest time possible a two-state solution. Yet serious discussion is blocked by obstructive...