Social movements
All topics-
Revenge is not the answer!
Prosecuting tyranny in the Arab world
In the wake of the Arab Spring, not one Arab dictator has faced charges for creating a police state and inducing terror among citizens. Similarly, none has been prosecuted for destroying state institutions, the essentials of citizenship, or the means of social advancement. Analysis by Shafiq Nazim Ghabra
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Interview with Algerian opposition leader Soufiane Djilali
Political crisis in Algeria – is compromise in sight?
Presidential elections or constitutional assembly? Algeria's opposition continues to argue over ways to overcome the crisis. A proposal by the Jil Jadid party could finally break down the entrenched fronts. Sofian Naceur spoke to its leader, Soufiane Djilali
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Democracy movements in the Arab world
Look to Sudan, Algeria!
A watershed moment in Sudan: after 30 years of repression, a civilian-led government looks set to co-determine the country’s future path. It's quite a different picture in Algeria: here, the people have been demonstrating against the military for months, to no avail. By Khaled Salameh
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Algeria after the postponed elections
The closing window for change
For more than four months now, protesters in Algeria have been urging a clean-up of the country's politics and a new constitution. But how realistic is change given the military's iron grip on power? By Dalia Ghanem
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The Levant
Jordan's fragile stability
Jordan is considered an anchor of stability in a region shaken by crises. Yet one year on from the protests of May 2018, the country continues to face massive economic and political challenges. With youth unemployment on the rise – feeding massive social frustration – criticism of poor governance in the kingdom is growing. By Claudia Mende
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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-Gawhary
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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 fear
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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 Amroune
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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 Gallien
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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 essay
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Social unrest in Tunisia
Taking on the IMF
As the Tunis government’s international creditors tie loans to increasingly drastic austerity measures, social tensions continue to grow in the nation’s marginalised hinterland. By Sofian Philip Naceur
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Domestic power struggle in Tunisia
A faltering democracy
The most promising democratic experiment in the Arab world can still avert political disaster, but Tunisia urgently needs outside help in view of the ongoing trench warfare within the government, writes Youssef Cherif in his essay