‘Iranian Spring’ or hard-liners consolidating power?
Two Iranian poets who face lashings and prison sentences have fled Iran in a rare escape for local artists and activists ensnared in an ongoing crackdown on expression in… Read more »
Category: Middle East/North Africa
The revenge of history: authoritarian narratives
Some 25 years after the Cold War, passions grounded in history are increasingly an essential feature of international relations, and dangerously so, argues Bruno Tertrais, a Senior Research Fellow at… Read more »
Civil resistance in the Arab Spring: what went wrong?
The overriding lesson of the abortive Arab Spring is that getting rid of a dictatorial and corrupt ruler is not enough. Building democratic institutions, and restoring confidence in a flawed… Read more »
Tunisia’s democratic experiment ‘still up for grabs’?
Thousands gathered in Tunisia’s capital Thursday to mark the fifth anniversary of the uprising that inspired the Arab Spring. Tunisians thronged Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the main thoroughfare in central Tunis… Read more »
The Algerian Conundrum: Authoritarian State, Democratic Society
Algeria is facing deepening domestic uncertainty as collapsing oil revenues and tensions across the region threaten its hard-won stability. Adding to the concern are questions about the ability of the… Read more »
Turkey Divided and Conquered: How the AKP Regained Power
The landslide victory of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey’s November 1 election came as a shock to many, notes a new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center…. Read more »
Tunisia ‘headed in wrong direction’, poll finds
At least 10 senior leaders quit Tunisia’s ruling party on Wednesday as a wave of resignations in a dispute over the role of the president’s son continued to sap… Read more »
Turkey: Erdogan’s ‘dangerous dance with radicalism’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s flirtation with radical Islam in Syria and march from liberal democratic reformer to illiberal populist authoritarian have confused Americans trying to deal with Turkey, which… Read more »
The authoritarian hijacking of soft power
A renewed struggle between democracy and authoritarianism has emerged, argues Christopher Walker, executive director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy. The decade-long democratic… Read more »
Requiem for the Arab Spring
Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution shook the Middle East, setting off the hopeful uprisings that came to be known as the Arab Spring, AFP reports: But five years later, the countries… Read more »