The author refutes the charge of elitism. Such long, unpaid and mostly unsung work undertaken by local Amnesty groups was its antithesis. And then there was the start-up support for small local ngo’s drawing on international human rights law. A contribution to the openGlobalRights debates on Emerg
In addition to the transitional process falling into paralysis, there is also a palpable sense of insecurity. The political assassinations, once relatively unknown in Tunisia, are now picking up their own deadly momentum.
It is unfathomable to continue governing the Gulf states without some form of citizen participation in the legislature. Also, there is mounting international criticism of these Gulf states, who value their reputations greatly.
The relationships between the militias fighting the regime in Syria are extremely difficult to untangle. To date there have been no outright military confrontations between the various factions, but the simmering tensions are a portent of things to come.
Rather than submit to the noxious dynamics of Spain’s colossal underground economy, the migrant workers of Mount Zion built an informal city in the backdrop of 'brand' Barcelona. On the 24th July the community was forcibly evicted and a humanitarian crisis was born.
The hope for progress in the core middle-east dispute arises at the very time when a new Iranian president tests Israel's unyielding stance on nuclear security.
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
