Global Journalist: Egypt’s Staged Election admin, March 9, 2018August 14, 2024 [Zunes’ segment begins at 14 mins.] Global Journalist March 8, 2018: President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi, who led a 2013 coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, is expected to be handily re-elected. That’s because el-Sissi’s government has arrested or intimidated all viable potential opponents… Continue Reading
The Maldives: a serial coup in progress? admin, October 15, 2013July 8, 2024 Should Britain, the United States and others who claim to be concerned, stand by and allow reactionary forces to stage-manage a phony election, this sends yet another inconsistent and disheartening message to those struggling for peaceful democratic change in the Islamic world and beyond. Continue Reading
US government hypocrisy undercuts demand for Snowden’s extradition admin, August 29, 2013August 15, 2024 Dr. Stephen Zunes’ article in the National Catholic Reporter on the extradition of Edward Snowden Continue Reading
The Arab Spring, Two Years Later (video) admin, March 12, 2013July 14, 2024 DU Center for Middle East Studies Professor Zunes discusses the current state of the Arab world in the wake of the 2011 uprisings, the strength and successes of non-violent sociopolitical movements in the region, and the corresponding shifts now required of U.S. foreign policy. Continue Reading
Occupy fizzled, but made 99% a force admin, September 17, 2012August 15, 2024 t’s been a year since the Occupy Wall Street movement sprang up. Since then, it has fizzled, but this does not mean that the underlying issues that gave rise to the protests have gone away. Until last year, mainstream political discourse did not include nearly as much emphasis on such populist concerns as rising income inequality, tax policies that favor the rich, growing influence by large corporate interests in elections and the reckless deregulation of financial institutions that resulted in the 2008 crisis. It is hard to miss them now. Continue Reading
Democracy Imperiled in the Maldives admin, March 15, 2012August 16, 2024 Well before the launch of the Arab Spring, the people of the Maldives, a Muslim nation located on a tropical archipelago in the Indian Ocean, were engaged in widespread nonviolent resistance against the 30-year reign of the corrupt and autocratic president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The growing civil insurrection forced the dictator to finally allow for free elections in October 2008, which he lost. Continue Reading
Interview: Pro-Democracy Struggles in the Middle East (audio) admin, March 28, 2011January 21, 2025 World Streams Continue Reading
Why Egypt Will Not Turn Into Another Iran admin, February 10, 2011September 12, 2024 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. Continue Reading
Egypt’s pro-democracy movement: The struggle continues admin, February 8, 2011September 12, 2024 Despite the natural subsidence of dramatic demonstrations on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities, as many protesters return to jobs and catch their breath, there is little question that the pro-democracy struggle in Egypt has achieved lasting momentum, barring unexpected repression. As with other kinds of civil struggles, a movement using nonviolent resistance can ebb and flow. There may have to be tactical retreats, times for regrouping or resetting of strategy, or a focus on negotiations with the regime before broader operations that capture the world’s attention resume. Continue Reading
Egypt: Lessons in Democracy admin, February 1, 2011September 12, 2024 Together, the unarmed insurrection that overthrew the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia and the ongoing uprising in Egypt have dramatically altered the way many in the West view prospects for democratization in the Middle East. The dramatic events of recent weeks have illustrated that for democracy to come to the Arab world, it will come not from foreign intervention or sanctimonious statements from Washington, but from Arab peoples themselves. Continue Reading
Telling the Lebanese How to Vote admin, June 6, 2009July 16, 2024 In recent visits to Lebanon, both Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear that the United States would react negatively if the March 8th Alliance — a broad coalition of Islamist, Maronite, leftist, nationalist, and pan-Arabist parties — won the upcoming parliamentary elections. These not-so-subtle threats have led to charges of U.S. interference in Lebanon’s domestic affairs. What prompts U.S. concerns is that the largest member of this coalition is Hezbollah, the populist Shiite party which the United States considers to be a terrorist organization…. Continue Reading
The Stealing of the Iranian Election admin, April 14, 2009July 16, 2024 It is certainly not unprecedented for Western observers to miscalculate the outcome of an election in a country where pre-election polls are not as rigorous as Western countries, particularly when there is a clear bias towards a particular candidate. At the same time, the predictions of knowledgeable Iranian observers from various countries and from across the political spectrum were nearly unanimous in the belief that the leading challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi would defeat incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad decisively in yesterday’s presidential election, certainly in the runoff if not in the first round. This also appeared to be the assumption among independent observers in Iran itself…. Continue Reading
Democracy and Double Standards: The Palestinian “Exception” admin, December 27, 2005July 16, 2024 At a time of year when Jews and Christians are celebrating the spirit of justice and peace inspired by events in the Holy Land many centuries ago, Congress has been working to insure that the Holy Land of today experiences neither. Just prior to the Christmas recess, a bipartisan resolution… Continue Reading
Noble Rhetoric Supports Democracy While Ignoble Policies Support Repression admin, November 8, 2003July 16, 2024 President George W. Bush’s November 6 speech before the National Endowment for Democracy emphasizing the need for greater democracy and freedom in the Arab world, while containing a number of positive aspects, was nevertheless very misleading and all-too characteristic of the longstanding contradictory messages that have plagued U.S. policy in the Middle East. Continue Reading