Elizabeth F. Thompson

Elizabeth F. Thompson is Professor and Mohamed S. Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace at American University. She is a historian of political movements, constitutionalism, gender, and foreign intervention in the Middle East. Her most recent book is How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs.

Colonialism

How the Failures of Great Powers at the Versailles Peace Conference Set the Stage for Today’s anti-racist Uprisings

( The Conversation) – The racism that is now the target of protest across the globe is rooted in the tragic choices of leaders seeking to roll back change a century ago. Nearly all historians now agree that at the end of World War I, the choice to return to an imperialist world order by […]

Democracy

Democracy is not a Luxury in Times of Pandemic

Elizabeth F. Thompson

Washington, D.C. (Special to Informed Comment) – While some pundits extol the virtue of strong government (i.e., dictatorship) in fighting Covid-19, Middle Eastern activists are once again mobilizing to insist that democracy is not a luxury in a time of pandemic. “Systems of government that are more democratic and transparent will keep citizens safe,” argues […]