The year 2011 began with a series of shattering, wrathful explosions from the Arab peoples. Is this springtime the inception of a second “awakening of the Arab world?” Or will these revolts bog down and finally prove abortive—as was the case with the first episode of...
Middle East
A Change In War Policy? | by Mark Vorpahl
Two back-to-back victories, from the point of view of those in power, has left some commentators speculating that U.S. foreign policy has turned a page towards a less militaristic approach under the guidance of President Obama. These events are the killing of Colonel...
A Change In War Policy? | by Mark Vorpahl
Two back-to-back victories, from the point of view of those in power, has left some commentators speculating that U.S. foreign policy has turned a page towards a less militaristic approach under the guidance of President Obama. These events are the killing of Colonel...
Why the Middle East Will Never be the Same Again? | by Robert Fisk
The Palestinians won’t get a state this week. But they will prove – if they get enough votes in the General Assembly and if Mahmoud Abbas does not succumb to his characteristic grovelling in the face of US-Israeli power – that they are worthy of statehood. And they...
Egypt’s Bloody Sunday | by Mariz Tadros
At first, it looked like a repeat of the worst state brutality during the January 25 uprisings that unseated the ex-president of Egypt, Husni Mubarak: On Sunday, October 9, security forces deployed tear gas, live bullets and armored vehicles in an effort to disperse...
Revolutionary Challenges in Tunisia and Egypt: Generations in Conflict | by Stuart Schaar
The great Syrian poet, Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998) more than four decades ago called on a new Arab generation to break with their dictatorial, bankrupt, and corrupt leaders and their supporters. Qabbani, from his London exile, hoped that young people would transform the...
History in the making – the Arab revolutions and the struggle for democracy | by League for the Fifth International
2011 will undoubtedly be remembered as the year of the Arab Revolution. We have seen an explosion of democratic aspiration and courageous struggle as revolutions spread in a few weeks from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, and Syria. Like all such movements,...
US-backed Egyptian junta massacres peaceful protesters | By Johannes Stern
On Sunday evening the Egyptian military launched a brutal attack on protesters in Cairo, killing at least 36 and injuring hundreds. The crackdown happened after a peaceful demonstration by 10,000 protesters headed from Shubra, a working class suburb of Cairo, to the...
Scorecard: Egypt’s army and the revolution | by Evan Hill
Five months after protests broke out, has the military met demands for political reform and social justice? When Egypt's youth-led "January 25th Revolution" forced long-serving President Hosni Mubarak to resign on February 11, Mubarak handed the reins of power to the...