“Neither Libya nor Syria are likely to follow Egypt into a chaotic uprising,” the democracy expert predicted recently.
And he knows what he’s talking about because he has “consulted on issues of civil society, youth engagement and democratization in both Libya and Syria.” Not only does Muammar Qadhffi have a “long interest in participatory democracy and peoples’ committees (see his Green [READ MORE]
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is hosting a Congressional Briefing to discuss the Transition to Meaningful Democracy in Egypt. The briefing will be held on……
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 (11:00 AM to 12:15 PM), Room 2203, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Doors will open at 10:30 AM, and the program will start promptly at 11:00 AM.
The briefing will highlight what lies ahead for [READ MORE]
The constitutional amendments unveiled by Egypt’s ruling military council will do little to ease growing concerns that it is aiming to preserve the status quo rather than engineer a democratic transition.
“There is legitimate fear for the revolution stemming from those seeking to ambush it and those who have an interest in its [READ MORE]
Democracy and human rights advocates are calling for a NATO-supported no-flight zone over Libya and international support to the country’s nascent provisional government.
“The people of Libya have made themselves clear: it is time for Qadhafi to go – now, without further violence or delay,” said US Secretary of State Hillary [READ MORE]
A former opposition candidate in the Belarusian presidential election today revealed that he was subjected to torture during his two months’ detention in a KGB jail.
Ales Mikhalevich (left) was one of several opposition candidates and hundreds of democracy activists arrested for disputing the results of December’s presidential election. Incumbent President [READ MORE]
Check out the latest Digital Media Round-Up from the Center for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy for essential news, analysis and events.
Upcoming Events – Washington DC Covering Egypt: The Media and the Revolution Monday, February 28, 2011 6:30-8:30PM National Press Club Featuring: Riz Khan, Mona Eltahawy, Jeffrey Ghannam, and Natasha Tynes RSVP: Grace Burton at gburton@icfj.org [READ MORE]
The Union of the Mediterranean has been described as “an almost meaning-free piece of European Union architecture, a cathedral built on a pinhead.” With North Africa in turmoil, Kimana Zulueta-Fülscher explains why the EU’s democracy assistance to its southern neighborhood failed to promote reform.
When the citizens [READ MORE]
Libyan government security forces fired indiscriminately on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tripoli today as thousands defied a security clampdown to demand Muammar Qadhafi’s overthrow.
Gunmen opened fire from rooftops and in the streets with automatic weapons and even an anti-aircraft gun as protesters emerged from mosques after Friday prayers.
A special session of the United [READ MORE]
Genuinely independent and non-partisan, Radio Ndeke Luka is an exception to the norm in the Central African Republic, where politics can be a fiercely sectarian and risky business.
A coalition of opposition groups and ex-rebels accused President Francois Bozize of blatantly falsifying last month’s joint presidential and parliamentary elections from which [READ MORE]
Thousands of residents fled from Abidjan’s Abobo neighborhood today in a bid to escape violent conflict between rival supporters of former President Laurent Gbagbo (left) and Alassane Ouattara (below) who defeated the incumbent in November’s election in the Ivory Coast.
UN-certified returns confirmed Ouattara’s victory, but Gbagbo has refused to concede. The conflict [READ MORE]
At least one person was killed and several wounded today when a landmine exploded during a demonstration in the town of Lodar, a bastion of anti-government and secessionist sentiment in the southern province of Abyan.
The blast came hours after Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh reaffirmed several reform pledges and ordered state security [READ MORE]
The regimes’ pervasive, high-level corruption was sustained by authoritarian rule, their socialist ideology ossified into a ‘barren statism.’
Financed with huge rents, largely from oil, the ‘sclerotic political systems’ were beyond reform. The key questions were when collapse would occur, which regime would be toppled first, and what group would end the status quo.
We could be talking about the Arab world [READ MORE]
Prospects for a democratic transition in Tunisia will rest on the strategic choices made by the key political actors. But the chances of consolidating political reform will hinge in large part on addressing the country’s economic fragility, writes Abdulwahab Alkebsi (right), and that will require a coordinated effort by the emerging political [READ MORE]
A dramatic wave of unrest has exposed the seething discontent and resentment underlying the apparent stability of the Arab world. So what can we expect of a system which already experiences tens of thousands of public protests each year?
In 2007, China had over 80,000 “mass incidents” – strikes, demonstrations, riots – up from more than 60,000 in 2006, according to [READ MORE]
Prospects for change in Iran hinge not only on the opposition Green movement acquiring fresh allies and momentum, but also on the coherence of the Islamic Republic’s leadership. So will a forthcoming succession crisis provoke a fracturing of the regime?
The disputed 2009 presidential election was “one of the most transformative events” in recent Iranian history, exposing critical schisms [READ MORE]