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A “Freedom Agenda” in the Middle East: The Tools of Public Diplomacy
The United States missed a golden opportunity to encourage a democratic outcome following the Iranian elections in 2009. The grassroots uprising, after what the opposition movement considered to be fraudulent elections, was an opportunity for the U.S. to not only stand by its values of freedom and human rights but was also an opportunity to [...]
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The Spring of Turkish Opportunity
With all the political upheaval that has taken place over the last few months, you would think that a country dead set on becoming a leader in the Arab world, one that can serve as a model of democratic principles available to all of these countries, would step up to play a prominent role in [...]
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Morocco’s (Vague) Promise of Reform
The Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri came to Washington last Wednesday at a talk I attended at the Brookings Institute with a message from the King that Morocco would embrace a far reaching program of political reform in response to the protests in the Arab world. Fihri noted that the King was committed to [...]
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Egypt approves constitutional changes
Egyptians yesterday approved changes to their constitution, with 77% voting yes, which leave in place much of the old constitution’s large grants of executive power and flawed multi-member district system. The “yes” vote was campaigned for by President Mubarak’s old National Democratic Party (NDP) along with the Muslim Brotherhood and some fringe fundamentalist groups while [...]
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Private Property in the Arab World
While political and civil liberties have been a strong rallying cry for the protesters in the Arab world, whether from Tahrir Square in Cairo to the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, so has economic opportunity. Most governments have responded to this demand attempting to bribe their populations through high subsidies, expanded government employment, and higher welfare [...]
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Will Libya End Arab Spring?
It is looking increasingly more likely that the Qadhafi regime will begin his all out assault on the rebel capital of Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya, very soon. A rag tag force of rebels with light arms and no international help looks to get quashed, or, at the very least, defend the city [...]
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No to Amr Moussa
In many ways, there is nothing scarier than the prudent opportunist. Not the centrist, nor the people pleaser, but those who purposefully play both sides of the fence, cautiously say little, and remain so ambiguous that you don’t know what they are. Politics without principle or ideology is simply a thirst for power. And one power thirsty [...]
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Bahrain: The Model for Arab Reform?
Bahrain has been a little noticed Gulf island monarchy until protests rocked it last month after Mubarak’s ouster. Few people live there, its history is short and mostly irrelevant, and other than hosting the U.S.’s 5th Naval fleet due to its strategic position, it was largely irrelevant in international politics. However, this is what you might not have [...]
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The Necessity of Single Member Districts
As the dust settles on the uprisings fomenting across the Arab world, the new Arab democracies will have to find out exactly how they are going to structure their new systems of government. In doing so, the new interim governments of Egypt and Tunisia, and possibly Libya, should avoid emulating the mistakes of the two [...]
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March 13th 2011: Lebanon Uprising 2.0?
In January, the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) issued its sealed indictment into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. The STL in the coming month is set to unseal the indictments of the Hariri tribunal which has created a firestorm in Lebanon with the potential of political instability. In [...]
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