Hundreds of thousands of protestors took to the streets, fueled by poverty, hunger, and anger at their repressive government. Egypt? No, Iran, 1951, before the election of Prime Minister Mossadeq.
A Middle East Deja Vu
read more
Middle East & North Africa
Before There Was a Curveball There Was “Saddam’s Bombmaker”
Even before the Bush administration, there were those who believed — or pretended to — that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons.
Revolution is an Export Tunisia Can Be Proud of
“Tunisia is known for exporting olive oil and deglet nour dates but is pleased to add revolution as one of its principal items of export.” Revolution will be Tunisia’s only around-the-clock and never-out-of-stock, free-of-charge export item. It is its only Marshall Plan for fostering homegrown democracy across the Arab world. Let it be so.
A War Israel Is Ill Equipped to Fight
Israel is not confronting Arab armies or guerrilla movements, but an explosion of Arab democracy. It’s a “war” that it’s ill equipped to fight.
Pox Americana
In the name of its War on Terror, Washington had for years backed most of the thuggish governments now under siege or anxious that they may be next in line to hear from their people. When it came to Egypt in particular, there was initially much polite (and hypocritical) discussion in the media about how our “interests” and our “values” were in conflict, about how far the U.S. should back off its support for the Mubarak regime, and about what a “tightrope” the Obama administration was walking.
The Qosbi Show
Dear FPIF:
Thank you for your proposal for a new TV show about “a warm-hearted, middle-class Egyptian family named the Qosbis.” It’s an intriguing idea. Of course, we were thrilled by Katie Couric’s suggestion of addressing Islamophobia by creating a Muslim version of The Cosby Show. I believe, however, that she had in mind a Muslim-Americanshow, not a drama about an Egyptian family.
“I’m Taking You Out With a Drone to Save You From Torture”
Which is worse: drone strikes or torture?
Is Egypt’s New Military Leadership Just Coup d’Etat Light?
The pro-democracy movement must choose leaders with a clear commitment to democracy and should declare that no country interfere in the process of revolution.
Egypt Has Already Experienced Islamic Rule — and Found It Wanting
To curry favor with Egyptians, President Mubarak adopted the social conservatism of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egyptian Protesters Dared to Stand on the “Edge of Chaos”
What if, facing a hyper-speed revolution in Egypt, Secretary of State Clinton and her advisors had sat together examining fractal structures, nonlinear dynamical systems, and models of self-organization? Say what?