Middle East

Syria’s concerted military intervention against peacefully protesting crowds at the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan has resulted in dozens of deaths, especially in the city of Hama, with about 100 dead in the past two days. The European Union responded to this provocation by upping sanctions against Damascus. During Ramadan, devout Muslims refrain […]

Turkey

Eissenstat: Turkey’s Generals Resign

Juan Cole

Howard Eissenstat writes in a guest column for Informed Comment Turkey’s Generals Resign: Thoughts on a New Chapter in Turkish Politics For most of my professional life I have argued that one of the chief flaws of Turkish democracy was the overwhelming influence of its military. It is for this reason I have been largely […]

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 […]

Libya

Controversies over Younis assassination in Libya

Juan Cole

Abdel Fattah Younis, military leader of the Free Libya Forces, was assassinated Thursday. Younis was too close to Qaddafi, despite his defection, to remain truly popular with the rebels, and it is a little unlikely that his death will affect the terms of the uprising, despite what some observers are saying. He was not allowed […]

Syria

Syrian Gov’t Besieges Homs Ahead of Friday Demonstrations

Juan Cole

AP reports that most people were trapped in their homes as gunfire crackled in the background in Homs, Syria, the country’s third-largest city on Thursday. Government troops have the dissident city under siege. Aljazeera English reports on the crackdown on Homs. Elsewhere in the country on Thursday, people in towns and cities held a general […]

Israel/ Palestine

Is the Arab Spring Coming to Palestine?

Juan Cole

Marwan Barghouti, a jailed Palestinian leader who was important to the “Second Intifada” or Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, has called for “million-person marches” in support of the Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations this September. Barghouti supported the Oslo peace process in the 1990s, but turned to violence against Israeli security forces […]

Israel/ Palestine

Top Self-Defeating Moves in the Middle East

Juan Cole

One of the great mysteries in Hollywood is how bad films get made. After all, no one sets out to make a bad film. And most major films are made by professionals with a proven track record, backed by savvy investors. But occasionally these film professionals make an “Ishtar” or a “Town & Country.” Not […]

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 […]

Libya

Free Libya Offensive in Brega Begins

Juan Cole

Update: Midday Monday Libyan time, Free Libya forces announced that the bulk of the Qaddafi brigades at Brega had retreated to Ra’s Lanuf and that Transitional National Council troops had taken much of the city. They still have not gone into the middle of the city and need to clear land mines and booby traps […]