Egyptians are looking to their own political participation and to further their interests as free individuals. In turn, this means they must build institutions, namely political parties and unions. The legitimacy of army rule is contingent on how smoothly this is accomplished.
Although it is certainly of intellectual interest that elites and masses differ in rights awareness, it is uncertain that mobilizing the masses around rights or further informing elites about them will in fact improve rights in practice. A contribution to the openGlobalRights debates on Emerging P
To understand Tunisia, one must get to grips with its labour movement. UGTT has enjoyed a continuity in history and presence across the country which is paralleled only by the ruling party at its height under Bourguiba and Ben Ali.
Probabilities are always shredded by violent conflict, except the probability that freedom and justice will be postponed. See Part One here.
When the parties claim that they hear what the public is saying about, say, immigration, the public knows it is being told what it thinks the parties want it to hear. What has been lost is any sense that the parties speak from conviction.
In Syria, mixing violent and nonviolent resistance jeopardized people power, particularly when violence became the main driver of resistance from early 2012 onward. See Part Two.
Whether or not a movement is primarily violent or nonviolent, what is important is whether it employs strategies and tactics that can maximize its chances of success. A reply to Nader Hashemi.
Military intervention, as regrettable and complicated as it may be, is the only way to stop Assad’s killing machine. This is what most Syrians are demanding from the international community. If we truly believe in the right to self-determination, then we are morally obligated to listen to them.
Many Jewish-Israelis see local human rights groups as traitors, but a boycott will only make things worse. A contribution to the openGlobalRights debates on Emerging Powers and Human Rights and Human rights: mass or elite movement?
