Financial Times (November 23)
“Instead of protecting a revolution,” by usurping power Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi “risks relaunching one.” The largest nation in the Arab world, “Egypt, is the standard bearer for all those who rose up against autocracies.” President Morsi’s “deft handling of foreign affairs has shown that his government can be an effective interlocutor between Middle East and west.” Egypt may help prove the potential of democratic Islam. Still, “as long as there are no checks on his exercise of power, this will be in doubt. The decree should be reversed. Democracy is often noisy, complex and slow. But its processes cannot be usurped.”
Tags: Democracy, Egypt, Islam, Middle East, Mohamed Morsi, Power, President
Time (October 8)
“The Arab Spring has indeed been bumpy…. The days when the U.S. could manage events in the region through a network of local autocrats are over.” Looking ahead, one very real possibility is “regional chaos and, ultimately, a redrawing of the national borders that were imagined by Europeans at the end of World War I.”
“The Arab Spring has indeed been bumpy…. The days when the U.S. could manage events in the region through a network of local autocrats are over.” Looking ahead, one very real possibility is “regional chaos and, ultimately, a redrawing of the national borders that were imagined by Europeans at the end of World War I.”
Tags: Arab spring, Autocrats, Borders, Chaos, Europeans, Middle East, U.S.
The Economist (July 14)
“The fall of the Arab world’s worst two dictators would give a terrific boost to the region.” Half a year into the Arab spring, results are mixed. Perhaps we expected too much, too soon, but we should not forget the remaining potential. “The immediate fate of the Arab spring turns on Libya and Syria, both in the throes of revolution. If either got rid of its dictator, the overall Arab movement towards democracy would enjoy a huge step up.”
Tags: Arab spring, Democracy, Dictators, Libya, Middle East, Syria
Washington Post (February 28)
Will the Jasmine revolution spread to all of the Arab States? Who should the U.S. and other countries back, existing leaders or the protestors? The Post believes, the “direction of events means that, more than ever, the American interest lies in encouraging more rather than less freedom and in reaching out to those Arabs who seek genuine democracy. If that means straining ties with autocratic allies, that is preferable to appearing to back the wrong side.”
Tags: Democracy, Diplomacy, Middle East, Revolution
