By: Andrew Jarnagin The events of the Arab Spring that culminated in the ousting of heads of state across the Middle East and North Africa must have raised the blood pressure of the region’s monarchs by more than a few points. Amazingly, though, the anger generated in these uprisings was not enough to topple a single monarchy. Hereditary kingships from Saudi Arabia to [...]
By: Virginia McNally Students of Egyptian history are aware of the ancient “intermediate periods” –times of upset, conflict, or a break from the usual pattern of Pharaoh rule. Twice in ancient Egyptian history, intermediate periods rocked society and caused general instability for all Egyptians. The first intermediate period was caused partially by the end of the long rule of Pepi [...]
By Lauren Anderson Like many Americans, the sights of a jubilant Tahrir Square amid last year’s Arab Spring movement spurred within me an undeniable sense of pride and hope for the Egyptian people. And as a student of international affairs, having studied the seemingly obscure odds of a comparable event ever occurring in North Africa, the scene was utterly remarkable. [...]
By: Cody Knapp When protests against the rule of Libya’s long-time dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, began back in February 2011, few commentators claimed to have any reliable predictions as to where these protests would lead. After NATO intervened to avoid a pending massacre in the city of Benghazi, even fewer could divine an endgame. Even policymakers could not immediately coalesce around [...]
By: Sami Jarjour President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government apparently have no construct of even the slightest degree of human rights. Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, described recent events (July 31) as the “deadliest assault yet on mainly peaceful protesters calling for reform,” and shows that it is “clear that President [...]
By: Sami Jarjour In his 2006 work Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy, Noam Chomsky observes that the “image of righteous [American] exceptionalism” seems to have become a universal truth that has contributed to “the responsibility of the educated classes to endorse with due solemnity the sincerity of the high-minded principles proclaimed by leaders, on [...]
By: Khalil Farah “Our greatest enemies are Pershing missiles and Western music” -A. Vellamaa, Russian CP official: Mr. Vellamaa’s remarks were far from hyperbole, and reflected an historical trend of artist-led revolution, a tradition that has been repeated in the past few months in the Arab World. Even Mark Twain might not have realized how literal he was being when [...]
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