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What lies behind the Brotherhood's nomination of Shater | Egypt Independent - 1 views

www.egyptindependent.com/...746516 Egypt politics presidency presidentialelections MB ikhwan
shared by Ed Webb on 01 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • In recent weeks, the group voiced fears after rumors surfaced that Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's long-serving aide and former head of the General Intelligence Services, might run for president. Hatem Abdel Azim, an FJP MPwho spoke to Egypt Independent last week, had alleged that the generals might be holding onto Ganzouri's loyal cabinet to help them rig the vote in Suleiman’s favor.
  • "The Muslim Brotherhood would never nominate someone without the generals' approval," said Sameh al-Barqy, a former member of the Brotherhood and a founding member of the unofficial Egyptian Current Party.
  • "Shater is the perfect candidate for the generals. He is a candidate of consensus par excellence. He expresses the economic interests of the West, would guarantee the interests of the military inside Egypt, and in the meantime, he has a beard,"
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  • Ashraf al-Sherif, a political scientist with the American University in Cairo, ruled out the former Brotherhood member’s reading, arguing that the generals are unlikely to accept Shater as a president. "The SCAF would not approve of any president who comes from outside their circles," said Sherif, who believes that Suleiman or Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister, are the military's most likely candidates. So far, Suleiman has not announced that he will run, but sources close to him have told the media he is interested in engaging in the race.
  • By attracting backers and campaigners from the Brotherhood against the will of the group's leadership, both presidential hopefuls have posed challenges to an organization long known for its strict internal discipline.
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Syria bans smoking - 4 views

arif.amplify.com/...syria-bans-smoking smoking Syria health
shared by Ed Webb on 21 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Josh Handelsman on 23 Apr 10
     
    yay authoritarianism
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Op-Ed Columnist - Iraq's Known Unknowns, Still Unknown - NYTimes.com - 3 views

www.nytimes.com/...24friedman.html NYT opinion USA Iraq friedman tribal tribes sects authoritarianism culture
shared by Ed Webb on 24 Feb 10 - Cached
  • Ed Webb on 24 Feb 10
     
    Let's discuss this
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Breaking down US democracy policy in the Middle East - Blog - The Arabist - 3 views

www.arabist.net/...policy-in-the-middle-east.html democracy MENA democratization Egypt USAID USA politics analysis opinion aid
shared by Ed Webb on 21 Apr 10 - Cached
  • internet freedom program focused on Iran is called the Near East Regional Democracy (NERD). Bureaucrats have all the fun. 
  • sean lyness on 22 Apr 10
     
    The decision to provide USAID funding only to organizations registered and approved as NGOs by the Egyptian government remains in place. > That seems peculiar, assuming the organizations that would be poised to make democratic change probably are not approved as NGOs by the Egyptian government. just a guess - use Millenium Challenge Account funds that do impose conditionality and benchmarking? Also, why not involve Egyptian civil society in setting up that benchmarking? "I know this may seem like a political non-starter, for Congressional (i.e. lobbying) reasons. But in these days of Tea Party politics and massive deficits, cutting aid and focusing on political methods of democracy-promotion may just start to look feasible enough." Why not? What are the risks involved with cutting ties?
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KOF Index of Globalization - 2 views

globalization.kof.ethz.ch globalization index research data IR
shared by Ed Webb on 23 Jan 10 - Cached
  • The KOF Index of Globalization measures the three main dimensions of globalization: economic social and political. In addition to three indices measuring these dimensions, we calculate an overall index of globalization and sub-indices referring to actual economic flows economic restrictions data on information flows data on personal contact and data on cultural proximity. Data are available on a yearly basis for 208 countries over the period 1970 - 2007.
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The growth of the state: Leviathan stirs again | The Economist - 2 views

www.economist.com/...displaystory.cfm leviathan state economist
shared by Ed Webb on 27 Jan 10 - Cached
  • Ed Webb on 27 Jan 10
     
    What are the proper functions of a state?
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Joe's Ramblings: July 2007 - 2 views

taheny.com/2007_07_01_archive.htm Syria
shared by Ed Webb on 15 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Ed Webb on 15 Apr 10
     
    Source of some interesting photos of Syria...
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Libya's regime at 40: a state of kleptocracy | openDemocracy - 2 views

www.opendemocracy.net/...e-at-40-a-state-of-kleptocracy Libya state terror
shared by sean lyness on 27 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Tripoli the "Green House", until its English gardening connotations were pointed out.  More reminiscent of other revolutionary trajectories was his renaming of the months of the year (the Roman words being too reminiscent of the Italian imperial yoke), and his attempt to replace all English words by Arabic (even such good friends of the people as "Johnny Walker" [Hanah Mashi] and "7 Up" [Saba'a Fauq].
  • after 9/11, when Libya took a strong rhetorical stand away from its earlier use and endorsement of state terrorism;
  • Since the early 2000s it has become common to argue that Libya is changing. Libya has for sure altered its foreign-and defence-policy course: many countries do in the course even of a long period of rule by a single leader - even Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union or Kim Jong-il's North Korea, for example. But at home, and the regime's heart, the changes are cosmetic.
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  • Arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and disappearance still take place
  • no constitutional system
  • Moreover, it is clear is that for all the rhetoric about "revolution" and the "state of the masses" the Libyan leadership has squandered much of the country's wealth twice over: on foolish projects at home and costly adventures abroad.
  • Libya, with a per capita oil output roughly equal to that of Saudi Arabia, boasts few of the advances - the urban and transport development,  educational and health facilities - that the oil-endowed Gulf states can claim
  • Libya has not introduced significant changes to its political system, and especially not with regard to human rights or governance. The Jamahiriyah remains in 2009 one of the most dictatorial as well as opaque of Arab regimes. Its 6 million people enjoy no significant freedoms
  • The improvement in Libya's international profile in recent years reflects the abandonment of the regime's nuclear-weapons programme and its policy of hunting down Libyan dissidents living abroad (including their kidnap and murder).
  • For Libya's reputation among other Arab states and peoples is abysmal, if the state is not actually an object of contempt.
  • Libya is far from the most brutal regime in the world, or even the region: it has less blood on its hands than (for example) Sudan, Iraq, and Syria
  • ruled for forty years with no attempt to secure popular legitimation.
  • The Libyan people have for far too long been denied the right to choose their own leaders and political system - and to benefit from their country's wealth via oil-and-gas deals of the kind the west is now so keen to promote. 
  • sean lyness on 27 Apr 10
     
     despite a reputation for random arrests and tortures and a public denied the benefits of its country's oil wealth, Libya maintains permissible international image through "cosmetic changes" (?), dropping their nuclear weapons program, and abandoning its policy of "hunting down Libyan dissidents living abroad (including their kidnap and murder)."
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Changing How Qatar Sees the Blind - 2 views

www.nytimes.com/...01blind.html
shared by Josh Handelsman on 01 May 10 - Cached
  • Josh Handelsman on 01 May 10
     
    Culture may not be responsible for authoritarianism in the MENA, but it is certainly related to a lot of other issues. Apparently there is an enormous population of the blind in Qatar, due largely to intra-family marriages. Parents often hide their blind children from society, and seeing-eye dogs are not an option in a culture where canines are not domesticated. But it seems like the great authoritarian regime of Qatar is taking charge and addressing these problems! (only somewhat sarcastic)
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Activists aim to punch holes in online shields of authoritarian regimes - SiliconValley... - 1 views

www.siliconvalley.com/...ci_14407148 censorship evasion filters activists Iran China USA
shared by Ed Webb on 20 Feb 10 - Cached
  • Haystack, a program to help Iranians wiggle past government filters as tensions between authorities and the opposition movement surge.
  • virtual slingshots to take on government censorship
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The danger of majority tyranny | openDemocracy - 1 views

www.opendemocracy.net/...danger-of-majority-tyranny Switzerland democracy politics opinion analysis ban minarets Islam
shared by Ed Webb on 03 Mar 10 - Cached
  • The “yes”’ to banning minarets has brought these limits to mind, causing a real shock and deep disappointment for many people. I cannot remember any referendum that has divided our country both politically and ethically in a similar manner.
  • Democratically reached decisions reflect the will of the people in a given moment, though, not necessarily a superior wisdom or power. Democratic decisions can be wrong, unjust and impractical, violate the country’s constitution and even violate basic human rights. They can even relate to issues for which the democratic system is quite simply inadequate.
  • The debate about the limits of popular sovereignty will surely go on in Switzerland for some time to come. We need to make sure that the discussion is characterized by clarity of analysis, precision in drawing these borders and public education. An absolutized concept of democracy can threaten freedom and is susceptible to misuse. An enlightened people recognizes and acknowledges the limits of its sovereignty and knows that these limitations are what strengthen democracy and freedom.
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Prosperity in Sudan Wins Votes for Leader, Bashir - NYTimes.com - 1 views

www.nytimes.com/...15sudan.html authoritarianism economy Sudan election rentierism praetorianism
shared by Ed Webb on 19 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Mr. Bashir probably could have won without rigging
  • Rare are pictures of him decked out in his military uniform or like an Islamic sheik, images he has projected before. Most posters today show him standing in front of icons of industry: a dam, a factory, a road, a steamroller.
  • Corruption is not a crippling problem here, as it is in neighboring Kenya, or in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, two African nations blessed with staggering amounts of resources but suffering from the so-called resource curse. World Bank executives say Sudan has some of the sharpest economic policy makers on the continent, who have invested wisely in infrastructure, education and the country’s agriculture industry.
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  • wealth here is not evenly shared. Mr. Bashir’s Sudan is a thoroughly militarized place, and the president’s troops are among the biggest beneficiaries of the boom, constantly getting new weapons, trucks, hospitals and other perks
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Reza Pahlavi: Iran: From Theocracy to Democracy - 1 views

www.huffingtonpost.com/...-theocracy-to-de_b_552943.html Iran pahlavi rights democratization authoritarianism reform
shared by Ed Webb on 29 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Ed Webb on 29 Apr 10
     
    Heh. A Pahlavi talking about democracy.
  • Josh Handelsman on 01 May 10
     
    "The use of new technologies makes me believe totalitarianism will soon be a thing of the past. The truth can get around the world in a nano-second. We must all continue telling the truth about Iran and her people." I'm skeptical that "the truth" is going to free Iran....
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Breaking point: why the Kyrgyz lost their patience | openDemocracy - 1 views

www.opendemocracy.net/...why-kyrgyz-lost-their-patience authoritarianism democracy reform geopolitics imperialism Kyrgyzstan
shared by Ed Webb on 29 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Ed Webb on 29 Apr 10
     
    The new 'Great Game'?
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Sacred and Secular Mix in Turkey's Museums - 1 views

www.nytimes.com/...26museums.html reform Turkey Islam democracy
shared by sean lyness on 28 May 10 - Cached
  • sean lyness on 28 May 10
     
    "the forces of secularism and Islam are in contention." "Finally, in 1934, by order of the founder of the secular Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the mosque was turned into a museum."
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Saudi Arabia | Islam | Wahhabism | Ahmed Bin Baz - 1 views

www.globalpost.com/...house-at-war-bla-bla-bla KSA Islam Salafism Wahabbism
shared by Ed Webb on 16 Jul 10 - No Cached
  • twisted the ancient faith into an anarchist creed
  • critics, who include some of Bin Baz’s relatives, say the “liberal” media is using him to advance the secularization of Saudi society
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The Dictator's Survival Guide - By Micah Zenko | Foreign Policy - 1 views

www.foreignpolicy.com/...the_dictators_survival_guide Libya authoritarianism
shared by Sherry Lowrance on 23 Aug 11 - No Cached
  • Don't announce your plans. This may be tough, but you're better served keeping your mouth shut. This may have been Qaddafi's most serious mistake
  • This is a lesson that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has learned well.
  • Rather than threatening to kill traitors to the regime, he blandly noted that "there are security situations that require the interference of security institutions." Who could object to whatever that means?
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  • Don't use air power. It's awfully tempting to bomb your own people, but the blowback isn't worth it. (That's what tanks are for, right?) Advocates of protecting civilian populations with military force have consistently supported imposing no-fly zones
  • Be a U.S. or Russian ally. Let's face it: You need a big friend with a veto on the U.N. Security Council.
  • Bahrain's ruling regime profited immensely from this tactic: The subdued U.S. reaction to its use of violence against peaceful protesters was due to the fact that it provides a home port for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Washington did little more than scold Manama.
  • Although anti-Assad Syrians haven't been silent by any measure, their rejection of foreign intervention has been one major factor that has forestalled serious consideration of a military option there.
  • The last thing you need is for foreign powers to get a sense that a democratic alternative exists in your country or that your people would cheer on a Western-led military intervention.
  • Ed Webb on 24 Aug 11
     
    Sounds like the classic playbook. Saudis are playing it as well.
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The Dictators Are Smarter Than You Think - By Christian Caryl | Foreign Policy - 1 views

www.foreignpolicy.com/...ors_are_smarter_than_you_think authoritarianism book
shared by Ed Webb on 31 May 12 - No Cached
  • today's autocrats are not idiots. They have learned from the mistakes of their predecessors. Putin is not Stalin, and Hu Jintao is not Mao Zedong. In many cases, Dobson writes, modern dictators understand that it's in their interest to observe the appearance of democratic norms even while they're subverting them
  • "The Chinese Communist Party understands what its vulnerabilities are," Dobson told me recently. "No one needs to lecture that government on what they need to worry about at night." (Hint: Corruption and inequality lead the list.)
  • Putin understands that completely isolating his citizens from the world at large is a game with rapidly diminishing returns. Instead, like Chávez, he's focused on controlling the media that matter (like national TV) and carefully manipulating laws to tilt the political playing field in favor of the state. And so far, at least, he's managed to pull the whole thing off without putting large numbers of opponents into concentration camps.
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  • what do you do when you've tamed parliament so thoroughly that you can no longer use it to generate useful feedback about the needs and fears of the citizenry?
  • The fact that authoritarian regimes feel compelled to act like they're really listening to voters reflects the extent to which democratic norms have become part of the woodwork
  • The rapid spread of information is making it harder for governments to concentrate power, thus chipping away at the very essence of authoritarianism. A rumor of government misbehavior in one part of China can immediately trigger riots in another place thousands of miles away. "This is not something the Ming Dynasty had to worry about," Dobson observes. "So you can't tell me that the tasks these regimes have to worry about haven't become more complicated."
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Tunisian president wins for 5th time in landslide - Yahoo! News - 0 views

news.yahoo.com/...af_tunisia_elections landslide Tunisia election authoritarianism
shared by Ed Webb on 26 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Tunisia's president has been re-elected for a fifth, five-year term with 89.62 percent of the vote, the Interior Ministry announced Monday. It was the lowest score won by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali since he took power in a bloodless coup in 1987. Ben Ali was last re-elected in 2004 with more than 94 percent of votes — a drop from his previous victories, which fluctuated between 99.2 and 99.7 percent.
  • largely cosmetic opposition
  • Ben Ali's Constitutional and Democratic Rally, or RCD, which has been continuously in power since Tunisia's independence from France in 1956, won 161 seats. A sprinkling of small opposition and independent parties shared the remaining 53 seats.
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  • even Ben Ali's opponents acknowledge the results he has achieved in this small country that lacks any significant natural resources. Tunisia is expecting 3 percent growth in gross domestic product this year despite the global recession. The country's poverty rate has dropped below 4 percent and it is a regional model in terms of literacy, social welfare and the role women play in society. Rights groups however deplore the country's overbearing police presence and general absence of any real freedom of expression.
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