The visual landscape of the Arab World has changed greatly as various forms of creative expression have flourished in the days since the Arab Spring. Graffiti and street art not only played a distinct role in the political dissent of this revolutionary period. Art has also been an ongoing experience for the revolutionary youth that is strengthening civil society and the democratic process.
Despite continuous assurances that the United States favours democratic rule during the 18-month-old “Arab Spring”, majorities or pluralities in six predominantly Muslim countries see Washington as an obstacle to their democratic aspirations, according to a new survey released here Tuesday.
The new government will probably be even more open to World Bank and IMF structural-adjustment programs than in the past.
The power of the military in Egypt is so strong that many Egyptians, as well as observers around the world, feared that the country’s first-ever presidential vote would result in a stolen election. Instead, the persistently peaceful demonstrators in Tahrir Square received news of a landmark victory for this 7,000-year-old civilization: Egypt finally has a democratically elected, civilian leader.
In the recent documentary Tahrir 2011: The Good, The Bad & The Politician, three directors present varying perspectives on the Egyptian Uprising and provide a comprehensive overview of what was happening on Tahrir Square, and why. The documentary is divided into three sections: The Good, directed by Tamer Ezzat, The Bad, directed by Ayten Amin, and The Politician, directed by Amr Salama. Executed in a cinematic style, each section includes visuals, live footage of protests, and interviews, as well as considerable wit and sophistication, to tell the story of the Egyptian Spring.
The gains of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafist al-Nour Party in the 2011-2012 parliamentary elections, as well as the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi’s first-place showing in the presidential election, demonstrate that Egypt’s Islamists carry widespread support throughout the country. Nonetheless, the surge of enthusiasm for Hamdeen Sabahi, which placed him third in the presidential election (fewer than 5 points behind Morsi), demonstrates the growing strength of Nasserism in post-Mubarak Egypt.
The essays in The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest and Social Change in Egypt, 1999-2011 validate Hannah Arendt’s famous quote that “revolutionaries do not make revolutions. The revolutionaries are those who know when power is lying in the street and then they can pick it up.” Journey to Tahrir, edited by Jeannie Sowers, rejects the mainstream media’s often monolithic and melodramatic portrait of a random pro-democracy uprising in Egypt. Instead the contributors meticulously dissect the numerous components that coalesced in November 2011 in a mass social upheaval that brought down the Mubarak regime.
This May, for the first time in their history, Egyptians voted for president in a largely free and fair election. For the second time in less than a year, a new democratic regime is emerging from the outgrowth of the Arab Awakening.
Hundreds were arrested in demonstrations that converged on the Egyptian Ministry of Defense.
Neoconservatives are finding the entry of a Muslim Brotherhood candidate in the race for Egypt’s presidency hard to swallow.