Category: Middle East/North Africa

Bahrain reform plan prompts protests, as court upholds activists’ jail terms

     

On September 18, Bahrain media reported that Crown Prince Salman, perceived as a conciliator, had sent a letter to his father, King Hamad, outlining areas of “common ground” in talks… Read more »

‘Doubling down’ on democracy in face of new authoritarians?

     

Western liberal democracy now faces a competitor Frances Fukuyama did not anticipate when he wrote “The End of History?,” says Harvard’s Michael Ignatieff: states that are capitalist in economics, authoritarian… Read more »

ISIS strategy needs ‘political, cultural, ideological tools – and Arab reform

     

The U.S. strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy” and the formation of a “broad coalition” to do so, does not guarantee the… Read more »

Waves of democratization are not over?

     

In the latest issue of the Journal of Democracy, (PDF), Marc Plattner makes the provocative claim that “the era of democratic transitions is over, and should now become the province of the… Read more »