The Tunisian National Constituent Assembly issued a draft constitution on Dec. 14, 2012. Civil society representatives in six of Tunisia’s 24 municipalities met with assembly members to discuss the text later that month. The National Constituent Assembly launched the initiative with the United Nations to “enhance citizens’ participation in the debate.” The following is a Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* ISIS fighters executing a civilian On November 14, 2013, Abd al-Kader al-Saleh, commander of the powerful Tawhid Brigades, died. He was injured in an earlier airstrike that killed several of his group’s top leaders. In a matter of days, al-Tawhid Brigades—one of the armed wings of the Muslim Read more
Continue Reading(Arabic Text) Part 1: The state Article 1 The Arab Republic of Egypt is a sovereign state, united, indivisible and inalienable. Its governance system is democratic and based on citizenship and the rule of law. The Egyptian people are part of the Arab world, work toward its integration and unification. Egypt is a part of Read more
Continue Readingby Jacob Havel As the trial for deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi continues, his supporters and Egyptian military forces are both on high alert. Morsi has been charged with inciting violence and murder during large protests outside the presidential palace last December. Brotherhood leaders have called for and received massive protests over the trial, which Read more
Continue Readingby Rana Jawad* At long last governments and international development agencies are interested in social welfare and social protection issues in the MENA region (particularly in the Arab and Muslim-populated countries). Ten years ago this was a very different story. No one spoke of the need to protect citizens in the MENA region (except perhaps Read more
Continue Readingby Ahmed E. Souaiaia* Talking to reporters after the conclusion of the G20 meeting, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, declared that any military intervention in Syria without UNSC authorization is an illegal act of aggression. He also said that his country will supply (sell, that is) the Syrian government with weapons to defend itself. Read more
Continue Readingby Mariz Tadros* Thursday was a day of funerals in Egypt. Most international actors have rightly condemned the ruthless violence witnessed against the pro-Morsi protestors, but with the exception of Catherine Ashton of the EU, they have turned a blind eye to the violence witnessed across the country over the course of the same day. Read more
Continue ReadingBy Steve Rendall and Sara McCloskey The murder of British soldier Sgt. Lee Rigby on a London street in May received massive U.S. media attention. The brazenness of the attackers—who allegedly struck Rigby with a car in broad daylight before hacking him to death with bladed weapons—guaranteed coverage. That the crime was captured on videotape Read more
Continue ReadingTunisia at a crossroads by Genevieve Theodorakis* A primary driver of the Tunisian revolution was the unanimous call for freedom of expression and mass participation in national politics. With the demise of the Ben Ali regime, Tunisians hoped their liberation would remove controls on freedom of speech and freedom of the press and further expand Read more
Continue Readingby Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr.* Recent development in Iranian presidential election demonstrate that socio-economic forces in the country were invisibly making serious efforts to make sure that a newly- elected president will address the pressing economic hardship being experienced by Iranian people. Such an economic hardship was a result of both Iranian previous government misguided Read more
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