Arab World

My interview on Democracy Now on the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 is available on the Web. A text transcript follows at that link. and here it is mirrored on YouTube:

Egypt

Thousands of Protesters Challenge Police Crackdown in Egypt

Juan Cole

Thousands of protesters came out into the streets of Cairo on Friday, to be met with concerted opposition from the security police, who kept them away from Maidan al-Tahrir (Liberation Square) with crowd control vehicles, police phalanxes, and barriers. People massed on bridges and overpasses beyond the grasp of the police below, and sometimes threw […]

Egypt

Egyptian Demonstrators Rev up for Big Friday as Regime Cracks Down

Juan Cole

As of Friday Egypt began being cut off from text messaging and internet access was disrupted ahead of planned mass protests. At 12:30 am Egyptian time, according to an email sent around by activists, the internet went down completely. The government is attempting to interfere in dissidents’ ability to organize. Similar techniques were used by […]

Egypt

Egyptians Defy Protest Ban, Plan big Rallies for Friday; Death toll Rises to 6

Juan Cole

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backed away from her unqualified support of the Egyptian government on Wednesday, saying, “We believe strongly that the Egyptian government has an important opportunity at this moment in time to implement political, economic and social reforms to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.” The Obama […]

Tunisia

Anzalone: Hezbollah’s Double Standards: Tunisia and Iran

Juan Cole

Christopher Anzalone writes in a guest column for Informed Comment Hezbollah’s Double Standards: Tunisia, Iran, & Popular Protest Hezbollah just issued a statement via its media relations office expressing strong support for “the people’s uprising” (the Arabic term intifada is used) in Tunisia. This, only days after it and its allies withdrew their ministers from […]

Egypt

Egypt forbids Protests a Day after it was Shaken by Thousands of Demonstrators, 3 Killed

Juan Cole

Egypt was wracked by demonstrations on Tuesday’s “Day of Rage,” called for by the April 6 committee of youth activists on social media last week. The protesters were hoping to profit from the momentum for reform in the region created by the Tunisian revolution, which forced the Ben Ali regime from power nearly two weeks […]

Afghanistan

The US Corruption Game – Cole in Tomdispatch

Juan Cole

My essay, “The Corruption Game: What the Tunisian Revolution and WikiLeaks Tell Us about American Support for Corrupt Dictatorships in the Muslim World is up at The Nation Institute’s Tomdispatch. Excerpt: In July of 2009, for instance, the U.S. ambassador dined with Nesrine Ben Ali el-Materi and Sakher el-Materi, the president’s daughter and son-in-law, at […]

Tunisia

Continued Protests in Tunisia

Juan Cole

Tunisian activists began focusing on Monday evening on Egypt, where they hoped a planned protest on Tuesday would show the continued impact of their own Jasmine Revolution among Arab neighbors. This, as it was revealed that the Ben Ali regime used a malicious code to steal the passwords of all the country Facebook users! They […]

Tunisia

Thousands Protest Interim Government in Tunis

Juan Cole

Signs that the Tunisia story is by no means over emerged this weekend. Protests continued in Tunis and elsewhere against the interim prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi and the president, Fouad Mebazaa, on grounds that they were part of the ruling Rally for Constitutional Democracy. The crowds wanted nothing to do with close associates of deposed […]