2011 has been a year filled with change, reform, progress and challenges across the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco included. As we anticipate what 2012 holds for the region, here’s a recap of key moments in 2011 for Morocco: February 20 – Thousands demonstrated across Morocco in solidarity with protesters in Egypt and Tunisia, […]
Today, in Washington, DC there was a really interesting roundtable, “What’s Next for Morocco? Assessing opportunities and challenges after the elections.” The experts on the panel were academics, think tank leaders and former US diplomats. (Click here for a full description of the event, the participants and the video.) I say “interesting” because the panel […]
There’s a LOT going on in the Middle East/North Africa this week—elections in Morocco and Egypt, unrest in Syria, crackdown on protesters in Bahrain…the list goes on. Don’t have time to sift through all the commentaries and coverage? No problem. Let me break it down for you and give some highlights about what’s being said […]
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 […]
Hollywood and other sects have made millions of dollars speculating on the eventual end of the world in 2012. However, should 2012 be instead seen as the year of the renouveau? Powerful states will go through a change of leadership next year; as is the case with France, the United States, China, Russia, Spain, India, […]
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 […]
The following is a contributing piece from guest writer Ladan Yazdian. Ms. Yazdian is a foreign affairs and Middle East specialist. She holds a BA and an MA in political science. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech, working on global security, foreign policy, international relations, and human rights. In the wake of […]
Originally appeared in: Political Reflection Quarterly. Volume 2, Issue 1. (Spring, 2011) H. Akın Ünver, PhD — Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has been undergoing an important and profound transformation since May 2010, which began with the resignation of Deniz Baykal, the party’s chairman for more than 15 years, as a result of sex scandal allegations. Following Baykal’s resignation, […]
It was supposed to be the final stage of a nearly decade long peace process. It was supposed to finally put to rest the civil war that tore the country apart in the 1990s. It was supposed to be the start to a new chapter in Cote d’Ivoire’s history, one not marked by geographic and […]
The turmoil in Egypt raises endless questions about accountability. To name a few: Is it possible for a dictator to be accountable to his people? What responsibility do Egypt’s allies have for holding him accountable? Are the massive public demonstrations currently on display doing any more for accountability than the previous status quo? Any leadership […]
Among other things, 2010 marked a number of national elections gone wrong. From Guinea to Haiti, Rwanda to the Philippines, Madagascar, Burundi and Belarus to name just a few, elections that were fair, free, non-violent and undisputed have been difficult to find this past year. Even elections in the US and UK took on more […]
by Meritxell Ramírez-Olle This Sunday, November 28, voters in Catalonia go to the polls. Catalonia (El Principat de Catalunya) is one of the Spain’s 17 autonomous communities with a population of 7.5 million people whose capital is Barcelona. Catalan, spoken by more than 9 million people, is the national language and has, since 2006, been […]
Time magazine names 25 most powerful women of the last century, from Jane Adams to Virginia Wolf. But was it really necessary to include both Julia Child and Martha Stewart in such a short, international list? Supermodel Kate Moss is crowned best-dressed woman of the decade by U.S. Vogue. Quick, get Kate a nice juicy […]