FADED HOPESDID OBAMA'S PROMISE TRIGGER THE ARAB REVOLT?By FRANKLIN C. SPINNEYJanuary 31, 2011During his brilliantly run campaign of 2008, Barack Obama electrified the world with vague promises of change in foreign policy as well as domestic policy. (My take on his campaign strategy can be found here.) Two and a half years later, those promises are ashes. Nowhere is that clearer in foreign policy than in the Arab world. In contrast to the euphoria surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Arab Revolt of 2011 leaves one with a disquieting sense...
Monday, 31 January 2011
AMERICAN CONFUSION
AMERICAN CONFUSIONA STRATEGIC CROSSROADS IN THE MIDDLE EASTBy NICOLA NASSERJanuary 31, 2011The Arab world is the beating heart of the overwhelmingly Muslim Middle East, and the Arab masses are angrily moving for a change in the status quo, practically dictated by the military, economic or political hegemony of the United States, which in turn is whipped by the regional power of the Israeli U.S. strategic ally. But any change in the regional status quo would place the Middle East at a strategic crossroads that is not expected to be viewed tolerantly...
IS THE GAME REALLY OVER FOR MUBARAK?
IS THE GAME REALLY OVER FOR MUBARAK?THE POINT OF NO RETURNBy RON JACOBSJanuary 31, 2011As I write this on January 31, 2011, Al-Jazeera English is ireporting that six of its reporters have been arrested by the Egyptian military. Meanwhile there has been ongoing speculation as to whether or not the Egyptian military will support the ongoing protests against the Mubarak regime. The live video feed via internet is broadcasting protests across the nation. The protests are growing in front of the camera's eye. The old Mubarak cabinet has been dismissed...
THE NEW ARAB REVOLTS
THE NEW ARAB REVOLTSAN INTERVIEW WITH VIJAY PRASHADBy POTHIK GHOSHJanuary 31, 2011Vijay Prashad is the George and Martha Kellner Chair of South Asian History and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT His most recent book, The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World, won the Muzaffar Ahmad Book Prize for 2009.Pothik Ghosh (PG): In what sense can the recent events in the Arab World be called revolutions? How are they different from the colour revolutions of the past two decades?Vijay Prashad (VP): All revolutions...
REBELLING AGAINST THE SHAM DEMOCRACIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST
REBELLING AGAINST THE SHAM DEMOCRACIES OF THE MIDDLE EASTWHEN THE ARAB STREET ENFORCES THE CONSTITUTIONBy LIAQUAT ALI KHANJanuary 31, 2011The peoples’ revolution is brewing in Tunisia, Yemen, and Egypt. These nations, unlike the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have established state constitutions that promise a democratic form of government and espouse the principle of popular sovereignty. Article 3 of the Tunisia Constitution declares that “The sovereignty belongs to the Tunisian People who exercise it in conformity with the Constitution.”Article 4 of...
A WIKILEAK ON THE US AND AL- JAZEERA
A WIKILEAK ON THE US AND AL- JAZEERABLAMING AND (KILLING) THE MESSENGERBy KATHLEEN CHRISTISONJanuary 31, 2011The United States has had it in for al-Jazeera at least since 2000, when the Qatar-based news network began reporting on Israel’s harsh treatment of Palestinians during the intifada and, a year later, covered the start of U.S. war-making in the Middle East, revealing to the Arab world a graphic picture of U.S. and Israeli brutality. During the Iraq war, U.S. planes bombed the al-Jazeera station in Baghdad and killed one of its correspondents,...
THE TORTURE CAREER OF EGYPT'S NEW VICE PRESIDENT
THE TORTURE CAREER OF EGYPT'S NEW VICE PRESIDENTOMAR SULEIMAN AND THE RENDITION TO TORTUREBy STEPHEN SOLDZJanuary 31, 2011In response to the mass protests of recent days, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has appointed his first Vice President in his over 30 years rule, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. When Suleiman was first announced, Aljazeera commentators were describing him as a "distinguished" and "respected " man. It turns out, however, that he is distinguished for, among other things, his central role in Egyptian torture and in the US rendition...
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