When it comes to translating the protests into lasting social change, traditional organizers will be essential.
The Egyptian Protests Are a Many Constituencied Thing
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Middle East & North Africa
Mubarak’s Defiance
After deliberately raising the hopes of millions of Egyptians and millions more around the world, U.S.-backed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak defied the rising demand of the millions of protesters who have taken to Egypt’s streets, to announce he will remain in office. Claiming he wouldn’t bow to “foreign pressure,” Mubarak, he said he had “laid down a vision…to exit the current crisis, and to realize the demands voiced by the youth and citizens…without violating the Constitution.”
The Egyptian Army: Make Money, Not War
The Egyptian army is outraged by how Mubarak and his son have sold out the country’s economy.
Why Egypt Will Not Turn Into Another Iran
Some prominent congressional leaders and media pundits, in a cynical effort to mislead the American public into supporting the Egyptian dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak and opposing the popular nonviolent struggle for democracy, have raised the specter of Egypt’s government falling into the hands of radical Islamists who would attack Israel and support international terrorism. To illustrate this frightening scenario, these apologists for authoritarianism try to compare the current pro-democracy uprising against the U.S.-backed Egyptian dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak with the 1978-79 insurrection against the U.S.-backed Iranian dictatorship of Shah Reza Pahlavi.
WikiLeaks: Just in Case You Were Concerned, Suleiman “Not Squeamish” About Torture
Not only wasn’t Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman squeamish, but when it came to torture, he wasn’t too proud to get his hands dirty.
Fiction Blossoms into Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution
As I try to grasp the full meaning of the Tunisian Revolution and to gauge its future, I am looking at my desk where I have spread two issues of The New York Times, both featuring Tunisia on their front pages. The two issues are dated 23 years apart.
Washington’s Support for Another Military Leader in Egypt Will Only Firm up Protesters’ Resolve
How does the United States reach the other end of the tightrope it’s supposedly walking with Egypt?
Egypt Protests Signal an End to the Post-9/11 Era
We are a facing a new phase in world history — the age of the Multitude.
Egyptian Riot Grrls
Twitter has been aflutter about the very visible presence of women among the protests that have taken Egypt by storm over the last few weeks. But images of women have remained sparse amid the digital slideshows strung together by major media outlets, which portray mainly dense crowds of the manly. Egyptian Organization for Human Rights activist Ghada Shahbandar estimates that the crowd in downtown Cairo is up to 20 percent female. Others have put the number much higher, at 50 percent.
U.S. Middle-East Policy: “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil — Just Practice It, Then Act Surprised”
It will be a while before the Obama Administration can assess the damage to its interests done by Egyptian and Tunisian protests.