Recently a peaceful election took place in Iran. While the moderate candidate won this past election and there was not a repeat of the protests that took place in 2009, the reality is that the moderate candidate was part of a group of chosen conservative candidates that were permitted to run by religious officials. The […]
Argenzuela — an invented word that has been on the minds and lips of Argentines for the past year; the jokes that Argentina is following an eerily similar path to that of Hugo Chavez’ Venezuela are no longer funny. The fact that the man who almost single-handedly has destroyed the former economic juggernaut of Venezuela […]
For the past year, far from the front pages of Western newspapers, the southern African country of Malawi has faced increasing political and economic turmoil, mainly at the increasingly oppressive hand of President Bingu wa Mutharika. So when news hit Twitter yesterday that the septuagenarian president had collapsed from a massive heart attack, it was […]
One of the uprisings in the Middle East that has failed to garner a lot of attention is the situation in Bahrain. Even though Bahrainis took to the Lulu Roundabout much the same way Egyptians did in Tahrir Square just days after Mubarak’s ouster and before major protests broke out in Libya, the story itself […]
For followers of Islam, Ramadan is the holy month that marks the revelation of the first verses of the Koran to the Prophet Mohammad and is a time of fasting, contemplation, and charity. As the Arab Spring continues to progress through 2011, many wondered what effect Ramadan would have on the protests. On the one […]
For the past few months, while living in Morocco, I’ve observed the sweeping winds of Arab revolution with great interest. Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria, and Jordan were all ablaze with popular demands for more liberty. I never imagined, though, that the fury would work its way to Morocco, but word came quickly that this […]
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 […]
This is from Cairo, right in the middle of this turmoil. 4:50 Cairo Time. I HAD NO ACCESS TO THE INTERNET FOR THE PAST 5 DAYS. THE MUBARAK GOVERNMENT CUT ALL ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS. I AM TYPING SO FAST BEFORE THE I LOSE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AGAIN Mubarak is clearly backed by the Americans. He […]
Cairo protests (credit: twitpic/shefaa) A second day of protests swept across Egypt today. Inspired partly by a popular revolution in Tunisia, thousands of people took to the streets in Cairo, Suez, and other cities, in defiance of government threats. As many as twenty thousand gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. According to reports, four people have […]
What a difference a few days make. Since writing my post on the demonstrations in Tunisia on Wednesday, President Ben Ali went from claiming that only terrorists and fanatics were protesting to announcing that he would not run for re-election when his current term expires in 2014. He also assured the population that […]
This week, the president of Tunisia, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, fled the country amid massive demonstrations against his administration’s authoritarianism and corruption. It was a success for those who believe that corruption should not be tolerated and corrupt officials should be driven from power. While the protests began after a single jobless youth set himself […]
Today in Tunisia, amid government blackouts and Western apathy among the press and government bureaucracy, social media and second generation journalism through blogs is emerging as one of the only methods for demonstrators to tell their tale for those willing to listen.
The Indian government’s decision to raise fuel prices last month resulted in some opposition-led large scale protests on Monday.
Not to pick on West Africa this week, but another human rights drama is currently unfolding in Guinea, where the military opened fire with live rounds into a crowd of 50,000 pro-democracy protesters on Monday. While the military government claims that only 57 people were killed, mainly due to trampling, local rights groups are placing […]