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There was a huge increase in number of internet usage in Egypt. The internet was a main pathway to join the revolution, but it also causes passive activism and most won't leave their houses to revolt.

Oct. 22. As the Egyptian government's crackdown on dissent broadened over the last year, university campuses have increasingly been in the crosshairs as one of the last remaining spaces for dissent. Despite efforts to quell political activity on college campuses, there have been at least 58 protests on college campuses since the first week of classes at the beginning of October. As campuses like Cairo University crack down on security and bans on political activity, Egyptian authorities are also attempting to control the activities of the youth. Sisi reinstated the law of appointing university presidents. The administration knows its weakness is the youth population, since all its support comes from the older generation of Egyptians. However, although he acknowledges there grievances, he basically tells them to stay out of the politics that should be reserved for the older generation. By taking this tone with the Egyptian youth, Sisi risks alienating the population and pushing them to join back in alliances between secular and religous groups.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy and theocracy based on Islamic law located on the Arabian Peninsula. The World Economic Forum has ranked Saudi Arabia as 131 out of 135 countries in their Global Gender Gap Index | World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index retrieved 4 May 2013 with a score of zero for the category of female political empowerment.

On Sunday, Sept. 28, President Sisi made a speech at Cairo University, declaring his affection and support for the Egyptian youth. He also warned the students against "malicious" activities and that universities were "solely for education." The speech followed the draft of a new controversial law allowing for the arbitrary firing of faculty members. Sisi pledged to dedicate state resources like special councils and scholarship funds to the cause of the youth demographic.

Interesting article about challenges social media companies face in preventing and deactivating accounts with content or users linked to terrorist organizations such as ISIS.

On the prism of democracy, Kenya and Egypt are light-years apart, but cyber-activists and sections of Kenya's political class are drawing false parallels between the two and nudging for protests in Kenya.Kenya's cyber-space reveals fragments of the country's activists and political class are pondering using social media to emulate the Egyptian-style protest perhaps to coincide with the third anniversary of the 2008 post-election mayhem.

This article is based on some of the research that Nicola Pratt conducted over the past two years on women's activism in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, from independence until the Arab uprisings. Nicola collected over one hundred personal narratives from middle class women activists of different generations. The article includes the rise of radical movements after 1967, the counter-revolution (post-1967), and re-popularizing and de-popularizing women's rights after 2011.

This article is based on some of the research that I have conducted over the past two years on women's activism in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, from independence until the Arab uprisings. I collected over one hundred personal narratives from middle class women activists of different generations.

An article published by Al Jazeera reports an attack on a container ship that was passing through the Suez Canal around the date September 1, 2013. Though the attack was unsuccessful, this article exemplifies the importance of the Suez Canal to the global markets and documents the presence of active security by the Egyptian armed forces along the canal.

This article discusses the way the revolutionary uprisings from January 25th have shaped the art community. It focuses not just on street art (which is used as an act of defiance), but also on film, literature (mainly non-fiction works, but poetry as well). Lindsey discusses how the uprisings have shaped all of the art forms that "demonstrate a support for the uprising through cultural activism."

In this news article on the BBC, a PKK commander claims that while the both sides leadership desires to move forward with the peace process, the peace talks with Turkey are in danger of turning into conflict. Cemil Bayik, a PKK commander in the Qandil mountains, says that the Turkish government's treatment of Kobane shows that it still views the PKK and the Kurdish people as a bigger threat than ISIS. Meanwhile, a Turkish government official, Yasin Aktay, vice-chairman of the ruling AK Party, gave a statement saying that the PKK and the Kurds are using current time of instability to try to "upset the status quo", and try to set up a system of self-governance like Iraqi Kurdish groups. This article ends with dire warnings by both sides. Aktay warns that in the coming weeks and months, Turkey will actively try to prevent a "power grab" by the PKK in Kurdish towns. Meanwhile, Cemil Bayik says that unless the Turkish government changes its policies, the conflict between the Kurds and Turkey will continue, asserting that "if necessary the Kurds will fight against the Islamic State and the Turkish army."

A PKK commander tells the BBC that the peace process with Turkey is in danger of turning into conflict.

The following link discusses vaguely and in general what life is like in Saudi Arabia including what entertainment is like, the limitations on women, societal norms, and culture. I was surprised to read that human activity is not allowed to be depicted in art.

Tunisian security forces have arrested about 100 jihadist and foiled terrorist operations. They uncovered a militant cell in the city of Hammam Ghzaz that was preparing explosives to use in attacks on security buildings. There has been talk that the jihadist group is seeking to expand its terrorist activities into North Africa. The number of Tunisians fighting in Syria has been estimated at about 3,000.

This is a tweet of a drawing by Sazan Slemani, a Kurdish woman who is very active on Twitter in support of the female fighters of the YPG, a branch of the PKK. In the drawing, a female PKK soldier is depicted putting her hair up in a ponytail, as if in preparation for a battle, and as her hair flows down from her hands, it changes into the shape of a gun. While art critique is not exactly my forte, I found this image to be really moving. I thought it was particularly interesting how long hair, which typically symbolizes femininity, was paired with something traditionally masculine like assault rifles and war.

This timeline by Al Jazeera details the history of conflict between the PKK and Turkey from 1920 to 2013. I chose this article because I still felt I could use some more background information about Turkey and the PKK's relationship, as it has had a great impact on Turkey's participation in the coalition against ISIS. While I knew about the conflict up until the Gulf War, I did not know that it was still active and ongoing in 2013.

In 2012 there were signs of rebound from the recession in 2011. The GDP increased by 4.8 percent, tourism and FDI started picking up in the first quarter. Exporting for Tunisia would not be as strong because of the recession in Europe. Achieving higher growth will reduce high unemployment. Directors saw a need to support economic activity while safeguarding macroeconomic stability. Directors considered that structural reforms are needed to reorient the Tunisian economy and harness its potential for higher and more inclusive growth.

This website shares with us information about Iran's nuclear program. Here you will find daily updates, regarding "assessments of this program, to ongoing diplomatic activity aimed at halting its uranium enrichment activity."

Political parties are demanding payments of up to $28,000 for candidates to be included in their electoral lists. This is prohibiting youth groups from having an active role in the formation of the new government. Although the new electoral law gave Copts, women, and people with disabilities the right to be a part of parties' electoral lists, splits and conflicts between parties interferes with the process. There is a consensus in the higher order of politicians that the youth are not prepared to be a part of the political process. Others believe this is an unfair statement. However, the mistake of the youth in the revolution was that they did not take part in the government process at the beginning. They missed their opportunity to fulfill their demands by only aiming to overthrow the regime.

The upheaval in Yemen has made it harder for the US to monitor terrorist activities in the area, and is allowing AQAP and similar organizations to exert influence and mobilize itself. The UN security council has also placed concern that AQAP has benefited from the deterioration in Yemen's central government.

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