What we have learned so far during these two and a half years of revolution is that people do learn from experience. It is this high level of political consciousness which will save our revolution. (A long interview, July 24, 2013.)
A historian of the Middle East from Stanford University discusses Egypt’s new interim government and the labour movement.
Everywhere the Arab uprisings have been confronted by the entrenched vested interests of old regimes, the so-called ‘deep state’ in Egypt, and by Islamist populism. The alignment of regional powers, following geopolitical interests, has sharpened the sectarian lines. But these alignments are not s
Tunisia’s second high-profile political assassination highlights the gravest shortcoming of the nascent Islamist government: the inability to contain the violence that increasingly threatens Tunisia’s fragile transition - a violence set to divide loyalties and destroy social cohesion, foreclosing
The bottom-line is that revolution is too loose a category to describe what is happening in Egypt. The real fight is not between revolutionary and counter-revolutionary forces but between different strategies that lay claim to the idea of revolution.
Una visión general confirma que la inclusión y participación de las mujeres en los actuales procesos de paz sólo se evidencia en la retórica al encontrar una gran resistencia dentro de la profundamente arraigada tradición masculina de diplomacia y resolución de conflictos. Read in English.
Much of the debate revolved around the use of the word ‘coup’ in describing what had happened, not merely an issue of great symbolic importance but mainly a crucial determinant of continued American aid.
A survey of on-going peace processes confirms mere lip service is still being paid to women’s inclusion and participation within the powerfully embedded male tradition of diplomacy and peace building. Leer in Español.
Two years after the revolution, Tunisians have reclaimed public spaces in the city. But failing municipalities, a lack of law enforcement, and scant engagement with urban planners are a cause for concern.
Can manipulating the democratic process ever play out in the interest of progressive politics? Samuel A. Greene suggests not: we’ve been in this situation before, in post-Soviet Russia, with largely calamitous results.
