Despite pointing the way to nonviolent revolution, Gene Sharp was once viciously attacked by the left.
Nonviolence Guru Gene Sharp Gets His Due
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Human Rights
A Middle Eastern Dream Deferred?
The Mubarak dictatorship is over! The military dictatorship lives on! The events in Tunisia and Egypt make it clear that change is coming to the Arab world. But is this change we can believe in? Unfortunately, it is increasingly evident that, although the demonstrators have won some concessions, authoritarianism remains in place.
Is Algeria Next?
Protesters in Martyr’s Square chanted “yesterday Egypt, today Algeria” during demonstrations in the Algerian capital Algiers on February 12. The Algerian government’s response to the protesters was reminiscent of Egypt’s ex-President Hosni Mubarak during the last five days of the 18-day protest in Cairo. Armed riot police and pro-government thugs attacked pro-democracy protesters to provoke violent clashes. The same aggressive approach to the protesters was seen again on February 19 when military-style armored police vehicles deployed throughout Algiers to prevent the protests from even forming.
Ian McEwan: Speaking Half-Truths to Power
In the midst of cries for freedom in the Middle East and Africa, novelist Ian McEwan claimed the Jerusalem Prize for Literature. Although I acknowledge McEwan’s accurate listing of major Israeli crimes, and admire his courage in enumerating them to such an audience, I found the speech on the whole to be intellectually, and perhaps psychologically, dishonest.
Napolitano in Texas: Tough Talk, Little Coherence
The Obama administration has unconditionally adopted the Calderon government position that together they are winning the drug war and all that´s needed is to stay the course. Both governments avidly support militarization of the border and of Mexico as the means to confront organized crime. Both governments write off human rights concerns and the bloodshed that the war on drugs has caused as a necessary cost.
American Conservatives Choking on Arab Democracy
Freedom is to conservatives what a scabbard is to a swordsman: a means to protect and conceal the implement of choice.
Will Protests Prompt Obama to Focus on Economic Development and Human Rights in Africa?
Will protests lead the Obama administration to implement real changes on how America approaches foreign policy in Africa?
The Key to Understanding Tahrir Square: Swarm Intelligence
“We have to learn to think and move in sync, without leader, without party, without manual. Swarm Intelligence Now!”
Interview with Medea Benjamin
Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the peace group Code Pink and the founding director of Global Exchange. For over 20 years, she has supported human rights and social justice struggles around the world. With a delegation of nine activists, she was in Egypt during the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak. Here she talks with FPIF’s Hope Kwiatkowski about the reception of Americans in Tahrir Square, the future of revolution in the region, and how the U.S. government should react.
Why Haven’t the Burmese Joined the Recent Wave of Pro-Democracy Protests?
Burma’s ruling junta’s response to pro-democracy protests might not be as brutal as in the past.