Egypt

Dennis Campbell writes in a guest column for Informed Comment : Egypt’s Spring Becomes a Long Hot Summer Democracy is messy. Freedom is contagious. For 18 days in January and February, the world sat on the edge of its seats watching an Egyptian people yearning to breathe free. The overthrow of Hosni Mubarak by a […]

Egypt

Mubarak on Trial but W. Is Not

Juan Cole

The July 8 protests spearheaded by young Egyptian leftists to demand accountability and transparency were rewarded Wednesday by publicly broadcast trial proceedings against former president Hosni Mubarak, his two sons, and several associates. The sight of Mubarak, on a hospital bed in the in-court cage where the accused are kept during the proceedings, was electrifying […]

Bahrain

Top Developments in the Arab Spring this Weekend

Juan Cole

As usual, Friday was a big day for the popular Arab reform movements that are challenging dictatorial governments. 1. Syrian security forces are alleged to have killed about 20 protesters on Friday, as the demonstrations and rallies continue to be vigorous in places like Hama and Deir al-Zor. The one-party state, ruled by the Baath […]

Egypt

Qaddafi was Linchpin of Corrupt Dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt

Juan Cole

Abd al-Rahman Shalqam, former foreign minister of Libya, has revealed in an interview with al-Hayat in Arabic that Muammar Qaddafi was central to propping up the corrupt and dictatorial regimes of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia. Many analysts of authoritarianism in the Arab world have pointed to French, British […]

Egypt

Egyptian Government Backs Down as Tahrir Protesters Gear UP

Juan Cole

The renewed protest movement at Tahrir (“Liberation”) Square in downtown Cairo beginning last Friday, July 8, has pushed the transitional government to make a further set of concessions to a still-angry public. Whether these steps will be enough to assuage the youth, who are camping out in the square in tents and gathering in the […]

Egypt

Today’s Top 5 Crises in the 2011 Arab Revolutions

Juan Cole

1. The protest movement in Egypt, which started up in earnest again last Friday, is expanding. Thousands were camped out in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo throughout the weekend, and people streamed there Sunday evening. The crowds closed the Mugamma` administrative building. They are demanding a cleaner break with the old regime, trials for security […]

Egypt

Egyptian Revolution 2.0?

Juan Cole

Thousands of protesters came back to Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday. Despite the sometimes dark depictions of continuing unrest in the Western press, from all accounts the atmosphere was light and carnivalesque. Crowds chanted, “No parties, no Muslim Brotherhood! The Egyptian people are in the square!” (La ahzab, la Ikhwan! Al-Sha’b al-Misri fi al-Maydan!” according […]

Bahrain

The Arabs’ Fourth of July

Juan Cole

The United States today is celebrating the declaration of independence issued by a murky group of dissidents in 1776, who, had they been rounded up by the duly constituted authorities, would have been summarily and ignominiously hanged. Their brief against their government — a government that claimed an ancient heritage and right to govern them […]

Egypt

US Reaching out to Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

Juan Cole

The Obama administration has decided to open direct contacts with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood long ago gave up violence and has been a responsible parliamentary actor for many years, though it largely promotes right-wing policies. People who believe in democracy should welcome the incorporation into the parliamentary process of all major political blocs, […]