by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Before January 14, 2011, al-Nahda was the main opposition group in Tunisia. No one, even its most severe critics, could question the fact that it was the most persecuted group in terms of the number of political prisoners, exiles, and disappearances. Its politics aside, al-Nahda did not shy away from challenging Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* The country that started the Arab Spring made its first step towards pluralistic, representative governance. On October 23, 2011 and before the eyes of hundreds of national and international monitors, observers, and reporters, Tunisians lined up to elect their representatives for the Constituency Council (Assembly). Nearly ten months after the overthrow Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* The mainstream media, analysts, and the so-called experts are struggling to make sense out of the emerging global protest movements. Recent articles published in major papers like the New York Times, Washington Post, and almost all cable television websites contained an assertion that the protesters are leaderless, goal-less, and fragmented. Apparently, Read more
Continue Readingby WALTER RUSSELL MEAD The Arab Spring has reached its first autumn, and it is still not clear whether Egypt will have a revolution. In my view, it hasn’t had one yet. The Mubarak family attempted a revolution of its own early in the year, replacing the military-business regime that has ruled the country since Read more
Continue Readingby Maximilian C. Forte…The U.S. Embassy cables published by WikiLeaks present numerous very interesting stories about how Al Jazeera was brought to heel by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Embassy in Doha, and officials from Washington, used a variety of direct and indirect methods of ensuring a greater degree of compliance on the part of Read more
Continue ReadingOutside Tunis one afternoon last week I visited the Tunisian American Association for Management Studies, which offers vocational training and literacy courses to working-class women. A sewing class had just ended, and the participants—a dozen girls and women between the ages of fifteen and fifty, most of them wearing headscarves—agreed to talk about the country’s Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. SOUAIAIA* It is not quite clear if the Egyptian military rulers are miser politicians or experts in brinkmanship. Whatever the case may be, the slow transition to civilian rule is frustrating many Egyptians. After months of delays, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the de facto rulers since the ouster Read more
Continue Readingby A. E. SOUAIAIA* Starting in 2002, Turkey adopted a dual-purpose foreign policy aimed at increasing its chances of joining the EU and at strengthening its economy. Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has the final say in all matters of national and international matters, it is easy to notice the fingerprints of Ahmet Davutoğlu Read more
Continue ReadingTripoli military council’s leader asks for an apology from the US, UK by A. E. SOUAIAIA* For many Americans, the US-Islamic interaction is borne out of the 9-11-2001 attacks. For them, the Islamic world is a distant place full of extremists who dislike freedom. For that reason, the attacks seemed to be an act of Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* To preserve their rule, Arab leaders have relied on two arguments: they are needed to keep Islamism under control and their rule must be perpetually extended to preserve stability and prevent anarchy. The first was intended to secure the support of world leaders, especially the West. The second was meant to Read more
Continue Reading