As the Arab Spring is turning to its second (and harder) phase of conducting elections and forming legitimate transitional government, the need for an economic strategy is becoming painfully apparent. The people, who marched on the streets demanding political freedom, were also demonstrating for economic freedom and the general improvement of their future economic prospects. […]
If a country’s government is democratic and classically liberal, men and women are generally treated as equals. However, if men and women are treated equally, does this mean a government is democratic? No. Example: Tunisia. Under Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, women were, broadly speaking, given equal treatment. They were entitled to receive […]
Throughout the four years of covering the war in Bosnia, we male correspondents secretly feared for our female colleagues. We shared all the dangers and challenges except for one — sexual assault. That was a war where bounties were put out for some reporters and rapes camps inflicted horror for local women; as they told […]
Summary of Turkish foreign policy in 2011 2011 was in many ways a milestone in modern Turkish history. First, the Arab Spring not only shook the Western influence in the region, it also ended the post-colonial period in the Middle East, marked by authoritarian-suppressive regimes, which in their way mirrored and reflected their perception of […]
It is roughly 1644 miles between Tibet and Ho Chi Minh City, where 48 years ago Buddhist monks burst into flames in protest against the U.S. backed government. Those actions also burst into the public eye through newspaper photos and television reports, igniting a different kind of flame –a slow flame of questioning and then […]
Yesterday, Moroccans went to the polls for the first parliamentary elections after the Constitutional referendum earlier this summer. As I mentioned last week, there would be three questions to answer after the elections, so let’s see 1) What was the turnout? The official figure is 45%, which is definitely decent. (). The big fear was […]
As Morocco prepares for parliamentary elections this Friday, check out this campaign poster by the Party of Justice and Development (Islamists) from @__Hisham (a great person to follow on Twitter for insightful Morocco-related info, btw). It’s what some in Morocco are referring to as the PJD’s female “Dream Team.” It is, of course, interesting because […]
So, next Friday, Morocco will be the first country in the region to hold parliamentary elections since the Arab Spring. (Tunisia’s recent election, an Islamist-strong assembly was chosen to write the new constitution. Egypt will hold parliamentary elections on Monday, November 28 to choose members of both its legislative chambers.) Morocco hasn’t received as much […]
Ever since the people of the Arab world, from Iran to Morocco, started rising up against their authoritarian and dictatorial regimes demanding accountability and representation, a lot has been said about the perils and obstacles of their undertaking. From historical and cultural legacies, to economic and political shortcomings, nothing looms as a larger obstacle than […]
As developments unfolded in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) during the past 8 months, one thing has become abundantly clear: the political transformation will not survive without an economic transformation. As many analyst have pointed out, an overwhelming motivation of the people who took to the streets with the ‘Arab Spring’ was the […]
An interview with the embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appeared in the Sunday edition of the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph, the President’s first with the foreign press since protests broke out across Syria some eight months ago. In his exchange with the English journalist Andrew Gilligan, Assad mounted a defense of his own rule […]
Next month (October 23rd) the people of Tunisia will vote to elect a Constituent Assembly, with the primary task of drafting a new constitution! The National Constituent Assembly (NCA) will be composed of 218 members, and will have to draft a new constitution for Tunisia within a year. Furthermore, the NCS will also elect from […]
As the Media and the international community focused their attention on the advances of the rebels against the Gaddafi forces and gasped at the horrors unfolding in Syria, Yemenis were left to their fate, ignored and unspoken of. Even back in March when the Media was drumming the tune of the Arab Spring onto the […]
As we observe the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and we contemplate what went wrong with the past decade, we should look at Libya for lessons on western intervention! In the aftermath of 9/11, American neoconservatives tried to ‘liberate’ the Arab world, and bring ‘democracy’ in the Middle East. It was argued that failed states like […]
Keeping up with policy and international developments can be exhausting. Do certain tools make it easier or better for you? Do you believe that Twitter, for example, exposes you to different opinions and news that you wouldn’t normally read? Without a doubt, Twitter and other social media outlets have provided intangible assistance to the wave […]