In The News

Can the Internet Tame Governments? – Part II

Borje Ljunggren February 11, 2011
The internet, so essential for the modern economy, is a bane for autocratic governments thin-skinned about criticism, whose minions strive to eliminate any dissident thoughts or deeds. Internet and cell phones were less widely available in 1989, and global observers can’t help but wonder if such communications might have thwarted China’s violent crackdown on student protests at Tiananmen Square....

Foreign Islamists Get Little Support in Egypt

Farnaz Fassihi, Matt Bradley February 10, 2011
Iranian and Hezbollah clerics have tried to co-opt the Egyptian opposition movement, suggesting that their brand of Islamic fundamentalism and 1979 revolution were influences. But the suggestion is outlandish, considering Iran’s brutal crackdown on its own young protesters seeking political and economic reforms more recently in 2009. The Muslim Brotherhood and Sunni clerics swiftly rejected the...

Globalization Fuels the Arab Uprising

Frida Ghitis February 10, 2011
Global trade and competition, recognition of declining resources, rising wage inequality and prices, along with instant communications – many forces of globalization are behind uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Widespread, well-publicized discontent has made oppression more difficult to enforce, explains Frida Ghitis for World Politics Review. “For people living in the stagnant economies of the...

Can the Internet Tame Governments? – Part I

James Cowie February 9, 2011
Debate rages in the West about whether the internet in authoritarian states is a tool for winning freedoms or another device for control. In the wake of Egypt’s mass protests emerged the first case of a government’s attempt to sever an entire nation from internet access. This YaleGlobal series explores governments and the internet, and which is the taming force. The first article, written by...

Dictator-Proofing the Internet

Daniel Lyons February 9, 2011
To stop protesters from organizing and complaining, Egypt’s government shut down most of the nation’s internet services for five days, but not connections based on landlines or satellite dishes. Analyzing the shutdown’s successes and gaps, technology activists set out to develop alternative networks in nations like Jordan, Syria and Yemen, reports Daniel Lyons for Newsweek. He reports that the...

Egypt Violence Exposes Secret Tools of State Repression

Frank Gardner February 8, 2011
After a week of reporting on Egypt’s pro-democracy protests, international journalists abruptly became the target of harassment and attacks from plainclothes police and men expressing support for President Mubarak. Some reporters were beaten, handcuffed, interrogated – routine intimidation of ordinary citizens by police forces in nations under authoritarian rule. If intended to curtail coverage...

The Arab Rising – Part III

Barry Rubin February 7, 2011
Trust is frayed in the Middle East, between nations and within, as revealed by two weeks of massive protests and fearful reactions to calls for Egypt’s president to step down. Leaders of Egypt, Yemen and Jordan scramble to offer reforms, and the international community grapples with the fact that transition in Arab governments could come sooner than they wish. Governance in these nations could go...