Arab Spring

Topic: Arab Spring

Algerian author and journalist Kamel Daoud (photo: picture-alliance/Gattoni/Leemage)

Kamel Daoud’s novel "Zabor"

Algeria and a patriarch's dying throes

"Zabor", the new novel by Algerian star author Kamel Daoud, tells the story of the outsider Ismael, who discovers poetry as a means of survival. Stefan Weidner sees parallels in the novel with the situation in Algeria following the ousting of BouteflikaMore

The Algerian writer Kamel Daoud: Who is the Arab man?Book review: Kamel Daoud's "The Meursault Investigation": To kill an Arab Algeria in transition: Time's up, Bouteflika!

Human rights under Sisi

Egypt's open-air prison

Egyptian authorities have arrested thousands in a crackdown on dissent, even its most benign forms. And some former prisoners are finding that they are not really free despite having been released. Ruth Michaelson reports on the case of a female Egyptian activist from CairoMore

Egypt's presidential election: The defamation game Abducted civilians in Egypt: The disappeared After the release of Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah: Freedom of expression at an all-time low

Sudanese protesters in Khartoum on 12 April 2019 following the overthrow of long-time dictator of Omar al-Bashir (photo: Getty Images/AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

After the ousting of Omar al-Bashir

Sudan holding out for real change

The political future of Sudan must now be hammered out from a precarious starting point. Demonstrators in Khartoum cannot instigate a new beginning without the old institutions; and the transition from toppled dictator to his former military allies will not be seamless. By Karim El-GawharyMore

Volunteer doctors and cooks help Sudanese keep up protests Sudan's interim military council fires three top public prosecutors Protests in Sudan: The yellow vests of Khartoum

Ali Azadeh, an AZROU activist (photo: Lina Shanak)

Indigenous rights in the Maghreb

An uphill struggle for Tunisiaʹs Amazigh

The Amazigh claim that the regimes of Bourguiba and Ben Ali stole their finest asset, namely their culture. Is Tunisiaʹs Jasmine revolution on the way to restoring their rights? By Lina ShanakMore

Morocco′s Amazigh: The long road to recognition Moroccan school curricula: French, Arabic, Moroccan, Amazigh?Emancipation and music: Black Tunisiansʹ bitter heritage

Demonstrators in Algiers protesting against Bouteflika in February 2019 (photo: picture alliance/dpa/F. Baticha)

Elias Khoury on the Arab Spring 2019

The re-birth of Tahrir Square

Ask what happened to the spirit of Tahrir Square and we find the reply in the Maghreb. Today Tahrir Square is in Algeria, in Sudan, and in many other places besides. Perhaps the secret of the Arab Spring lies not in its victories or its defeats, writes Elias Khoury, but in its ability to liberate people from fearMore

Tahrir Square's democracy activists: The forgotten heroes Alaa Al Aswanyʹs novel "The Republic As If": Elias Khoury salutes Al Aswanyʹs courage

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (photo: picture-alliance)

Algeria in transition

Time's up, Bouteflika!

He was brought in by the generals to save the regime, instead he ousted them one after the other. But Bouteflika was no democrat. He had come to rule for life and be buried as President. Now his own people appear to be de-railing those plans. By Bachir AmrouneMore

Mass anti-president protests in Algeria: No more Bouteflika!Government by consensus post-Bouteflika? Algerians riding a cyberspace wave President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future: The sick man of the Mediterranean

Maverick and enfant terrible of the Arab film scene: Youssef Chahine (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Egyptian film-maker Youssef Chahine

The great visionary of Arab cinema

Obsessive, argumentative, yet well ahead his time artistically and in terms of the subject matter his films addressed: 11 years after his death director Youssef Chahine remains a lodestar for the emerging Arab independent film scene. Christopher Resch explains whyMore

Youssef Chahine: "Chaos": Sympathy with the upright citizens of Egypt Interview with Youssef Chahine: "Tenderness has disappeared"Obituary: Youssef Chahine: A cosmopolitan envoy of freedom

Algerian Internet users, particularly young people, spare no effort or ingenuity to combine humour with creativity (photo: Nourredine Bessadi)

Government by consensus post-Bouteflika?

Algerians riding a cyberspace wave

As Algerians wait with baited breath to see if Bouteflika steps down, Nourredine Bessadi takes a look at the role social media is playing in the current wave of social and political unrest. Already influencing the countryʹs political trajectory, will this cyberspace discourse ultimately challenge the legitimacy of the state?More

Mass anti-president protests in Algeria: No more Bouteflika!Social unrest in Algeria: Cranking up the pressure Algeria′s disillusioned majority: Desperately seeking voters

Hundreds of Algerians protest against a fifth term of 81-year-old President Bouteflika (photo: afp/Kramdi)

No stability without opposition

The Maghrebʹs untenable status quo

As it seeks to support "stability" in North Africa, the international community needs to think less about strong states and more about strong opposition, says Max GallienMore

Social unrest in the Arab world: Guilty of gross negligence Morocco and the return of autocracy: Playing with fire Authoritarian rule in the Arab world: Nurturing the Arabellion phoenix

Algerians protest against the idea of Bouteflika gaining a fifth term in office in downtown Algiers (photo: Sofian Philip Naceur)

Mass anti-president protests in Algeria

No more Bouteflika!

Demonstrations against the controversial presidential candidacy of ailing Algerian leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika are snowballing into a mass nationwide protest movement. The end of his clan's regency is only a matter of time. Sofian Philip Naceur reports from AlgeriaMore

Algeria′s disillusioned majority: Desperately seeking voters Parliamentary elections in Algeria: It's hardly democracy President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future: The sick man of the Mediterranean

Royal Saudi Air Force Tornado IDS (imago/StockTrek Images)

DW in-depth

German arms feeding the Yemen conflict

A team of investigative journalists involving the Deutsche Welle have discovered that German weaponry and tech play a far greater role in the Yemen conflict than previously thought. Meanwhile the German government continues to feign ignorance. By Nina Werkhauser and Naomi ConradMore

Bushra al-Maqtariʹs "Voices from a forgotten war-torn country": Yemenʹs chronicles of death and destruction untold Germany's arms exports controversy: When doves cry Interview with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkul Karman: "We need to bring back the Arab Spring!"

From left, exhibition co-ordinator Heba Farid, artist Huda Lutfi, curator Shiva Balaghi, and artist Sherin Guirguis (photo: Sherin Guirgis)

Inauguration of the AUC Tahrir Cultural Center

Manifesting the unseen

New work by Huda Lufti and Sherin Guirguis explores the poetics of revolution and repression at a pair of exhibitions marking the inauguration of the Tahrir Cultural Center at the downtown campus of the American University in Cairo. By Mahmoud Saber and Jacob WirtschafterMore

Portrait of the Egyptian artist Soad Abdelrasoul: Creating her own universe The Egyptian artist Ali Abdel Mohsen: The natural pessimist The cultural scene in Egypt: Creative artists are the motor for change

Demonstrator protesting against the Mubarak regime on Tahrir Square in Cairo in 2011 (photo: AFP)

Authoritarian rule in the Arab world

Nurturing the Arabellion phoenix

The restoration of authoritarianism after the turmoil of 2010/11 lured some analysts into drawing the over-hasty conclusion that the Arab Spring had been doomed to failure from the start, because the citizens of these countries lacked political maturity and a real desire for change. A miscalculation, argues Emad Alali in his essayMore

Eight years after the Arabellion: The Egyptian opposition's seven deadly sins The Arab Spring and the "Spring of Nations": Failed revolutionaries?What triggered the Middle Eastern revolts in 2011? The economics of Arabellion

Demonstration on Tahrir Square in Cairo, 2011 (photo: Reuters)

Eight years after the Arabellion

The Egyptian opposition's seven deadly sins

On 25 January 2011, millions of Egyptians took to the streets demanding "bread, freedom, social justice". Eight years later, the democratic opposition is divided because it has been unable to offer an alternative to the military state, says political scientist Taqadum Al-KhatibMore

The Arab Spring and the "Spring of Nations": Failed revolutionaries?After the coup in Egypt: A dark chapter in Egyptian liberalism The Arab Spring and the failure of Egyptian secularism: Opportunity missed

Independent media prohibited: graffiti in the Yemeni capital Sanaa (photo: AFP)

Media and politics in the Arab world

The despotsʹ henchmen

The murder of well-known Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi highlights the difficulties facing media in post-revolutionary Arab states. The freedoms temporarily gained after 2011 have long since fallen victim to the authoritarian restoration. By Loay MudhoonMore

Repression against journalists: A world of Khashoggis Interview with Yasmine Zohdi, editor with Egyptʹs Mada Masr: "Censorship is the worst it has ever been"Media in Egypt: Fall into line or switch off

Tunisia's Red Vests mobilise in December 2018; giletsrougesTN#, latunisieencolere# (source: Facebook)

Eight years after the Jasmine Revolution

Young Tunisians see red

Inspired by Franceʹs "gilets jaunes", the Tunisian "red vest" movement reflects the widespread discontent in the North African country, where protests against spiralling living costs, unemployment, mismanagement and corruption are once again on the increase. By Alessandra BajecMore

Souad Abderrahim: Mayor of Tunis: The "Sheikha", the city and its problems Lessons from the unrest in Tunisia: Free in name only What triggered the Middle Eastern revolts in 2011? The economics of Arabellion

Topic: Arab Spring

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