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atownen

Biden: Iran under close watch amid reports of missile tests - The Washington Post - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...5-a9ce-681055c7a05f_story.html

iran israel missiles

shared by atownen on 12 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • atownen on 12 Mar 16
     
    This recent update is a report on Vice President Joe Biden's visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden assures Israel U.S. will back Israel's security in response to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps reports their "ballistic missiles are capable of reaching Israel." Israel was not in favor of U.S. negotiations re: Iran Nuclear Deal last year, and they seriously doubt more security assurance from our end.
irede123

Syria: Clashes leave Hezbollah and Iranian militants dead | Al Bawaba - 0 views

www.albawaba.com/...-iranian-militants-dead-825488

hezbollah syria ISIS

shared by irede123 on 05 Apr 16 - No Cached
  • irede123 on 05 Apr 16
     
    "Regime forces undertaking two fronts, led violent battles with Syrian Opposition forces in Al-Eis town, located in south Aleppo. Regime forces entered Al-Eis yesterday and announced the death of twelve Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants and two militants from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC."
allieggg

The U.S. Is Giving Up on Middle East Democracy-and That's a Mistake - The Atlantic - 0 views

www.theatlantic.com/...282890

middle east democracy institutions Bush Obama Congress

shared by allieggg on 29 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • democracy assistance to the region, which will drop from $459.2 million to $298.3 million
  • Today’s Middle East is a product, at least in part, of failed democratization, and one of the reasons it failed was the timid, half-hearted support of the Obama administration.
  • the significant impact Western leverage and “linkage” can have on democratic transitions.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • “it was an externally driven shift in the cost of suppression, not changes in domestic conditions, that contributed most centrally to the demise of authoritarianism in the 1980s and 1990s.” They find that “states’ vulnerability to Western democratization pressure… was often decisive.”
  • it is also worth noting that President Bush acknowledged the existence of a “tyranny-terror” link—the notion that the root causes of extremism and terrorism can be found in the region’s enduring lack of democracy.
  • the administration’s approach to the region is characterized almost entirely by ad-hoc crisis management and traditional counterterrorism approaches. Its one larger-scale reform initiative—a half-hearted proposal for a
  • We argue that the U.S. and its partners now need to consider a very different approach to Middle East democracy assistance.
  • Conventional democracy promotion activities tend to focus on the process and “retail” aspects of democratic politics—things like elections, political party training, get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaigns, and civil society enhancement. While these are undoubtedly important, they are insufficient to deliver lasting reforms. Authoritarianism in the Arab world has proven time and time again—even in supposedly post-revolutionary settings such as Egypt today—that it can weather the annoyances of elections and civil society.
  • What is needed are more systematic reforms focused on fundamental institutions. These include things like constraining the military’s role in civilian domains of governance, deep reform in the security and justice sectors including law enforcement and policing, and comprehensive “renovation” of the civil service sector. These are large-scale, long-term, and expensive undertakings that far transcend the modest parameters of most U.S. democracy promotion programs.
  • we make the case for a new Multilateral Endowment for Reform (MER) that would tie significant levels of financial assistance—in the billions of dollars—to reform commitments and benchmarked implementation performance by partner nations.
  • provide a real incentive for countries to embark down a path to deeper and more enduring political reforms while retaining the ability to pull back funding if they do not deliver.
  • allieggg on 29 Sep 14
     
    This article begins by illuminating the regional democracy assistance cuts that are dropping from $459.2 million to $298.3 million It explains that the Bush Administration began the quest for democracy in the Middle East, and the Obama administration has only continued in his footsteps. The author presents the viewpoint that the U.S. approach to Arab democratization has been in the form of "ad-hoc crisis management" rather than "large scale reform initiatives." Promoting democracy in the form of democratic politics are insufficient, elections and political parties have consistently proved to weather away and fester further civil strife. Consequently, the article proposes a new approach to the region conflict. This approach calls for "systematic reforms" focusing on basic institutions such as the civil service sector, justice and law enforcement, and the military's role in governance. The idea is that addressing these lacking departments in the arab world will eventually pave the way to a smoother democratic transition. 
katelynklug

Globally, Youth + ICT = Protest | CONNECTED in CAIRO - 1 views

connectedincairo.com/...globally-youth-ict-protest

shared by katelynklug on 11 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • ethnography
    • katelynklug
      katelynklug on 11 Sep 14
       
      defined as describing of the customs of individual peoples and cultures
  • see themselves
  • affect their actions
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • connected and disconnected
  • protests were a result of a large disaffected population of young people (a “youth bulge”)
  • who took advantage
  • large youth cohort
  • more likely
  •  anti-government protest
  • high levels of ICT penetration and with a large youth cohort
  • anti-government protest
  • more likely
  • First, a you
  • of ICT to fomen
  • th bulge by itself shows no real correlation
  • being connected doesn’t by itself produce revolution
  • high ICT penetration in combination with a youth bulge
  • strongly correlated
  • explained by more contextual factors
  • proliferation of technology that is more important than demographic factors
  • amplify
  • smaller in size
  • cohorts
    • katelynklug
      katelynklug on 11 Sep 14
       
      This qualitative research provides a very interesting conclusion that can be applied in historical terms to all societal revolutions. Although the research suggested that the outbreak of protest was specifically rated to contextual factors, it previously suggested that any society with a large youth population who is proficient in technology has the potential for revolutionary action. This is interesting because it confirms that the youth, who generally possess progressive ideas are also more likely to be involved in activism. As technology becomes increasingly important for movement mobilization, governments may become even more heavily involved in its citizens' access to it. I think the increasing popularity of technology and social media could backfire on the younger generations who have embedded this into their culture. Government systems are already extremely aware of the power of technology, and oppressive systems are very likely to restrict access or banish it. However, at this point, even a highly skilled government will never be able to eliminate technology or its influence.
katelynklug

Where are the youth of the Egyptian revolution? - 0 views

www.middleeastmonitor.com/...th-of-the-egyptian-revolution-

shared by katelynklug on 15 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • motivated by the knowledge they gained from the internet and social networking sites
  • combat tyranny and human rights violations
  • non-violent resistance movements abroad.
  • ...59 more annotations...
  • broadcast information on human rights violations
  • mobilise the masses
  • rejecting tyranny
  • calling for freedom
  • refused any and all partial solutions
  • did not care to make an intellectual presence
  • clearly defined political project
  • no leadership
  • sufficient time to prepare themselves
  • elite and the military took over during the transitional
  • period
  • balance of power
  • did not succeed in establishing new parties
  • participate
  • accountability and trial
  • for killing youth
  • social justice
  • political elite became more polarised
  • until the youth became polarised
  • how to topple tyrannical regimes
  • information about human rights violations
  • too preoccupied with side issues
  • true nature of revolutionary change
  • not necessarily mean the fall of the system
  • lacked the focus necessary to achieve any of their strategic goals
  • application of Shari'ah law
  • Enabling the youth
  • universal pillars that are needed for making political changes
  • military imposed their presence
  • failed to keep pace
  • in terms of democracy itself
  • endorsing the army
  • aggravating an already sensitive situation
  • media
  • bribing the youth with money
  • violent Islamist groups have emerged as a way of confronting the state
  • youth do not see the dangers of politicising the military and are calling for military intervention to resolve their political differences with the Muslim Brotherhood
  • military intervention as the only solution
  • oust the first elected civilian president in the history
  • main responsibility
  • nascent democratic experience
  • aggravating the political situation
  • deepening the political divisions in society
  • did not allow the youth to engage in the public domain or contribute
  • engage the community and educate
  • restore national unity
  • bigger picture
  • valuable information
  • media platform
  • policy for communication
  • infuse the entire
  • society with the values and goals of the revolution
  • community awareness
  • revolutions
  • several phases
  • common political vision and strategy
  • advice of experts in situations where there is a shortage of expertise on a particular subject pertaining to state
  • respects differences
  • political etiquette
  • katelynklug on 15 Sep 14
     
    This author gives an analysis of where the Egyptian youth failed and succeeded in their revolution. He applauds their original motivation: overthrowing the oppressive regime and seeking political freedom. However, he criticizes the movement for not having organized goals with practical implications. Their focus was so set on overthrowing Mubarak that they did not have a plan once that was achieved. As a result, the youth allowed the military to become politicized and enforce their political ideas. The author claims this move set a dangerous precedent for the future and took away the attention of the military from places it was needed. The author claims that by endorsing the army to act militarily against the first civilian elected president of the country, the youth is undermining their original goals. He goes on to explain his suggestions for the Egyptian youth to get back on track and follow through in the remaining phases of the revolution.
katelynklug

Government, Brotherhood fail to attract Egyptian youth - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East - 0 views

www.al-monitor.com/...therhood-youth-referendum.html

shared by katelynklug on 29 Sep 14 - No Cached
micklethwait liked it
  • youth decided to protest on the anniversary of Jan. 28, 2011, which was called the "Friday of Anger."
  • low participation of youth
  • been the fuel of the two popular revolutions
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • frustration over the return of Mubarak-era figures
  • submit a file that includes the names of the persons arbitrarily arrested
  • the youth must suggest replacements and alternative cadres who are not associated
  • We objected to
  • tarnishing of the image of the January 25 Revolution
  • apology was rejected by various revolutionary movements
  • return of remnants of the Mubarak regime
  • tarnishes our image in the media,
  • frustration, the arrests of activists
  • prevented the youth from demonstrating
  • we can only manage this homeland for all its people
  • through genuine participation of all segments
  • arrest of every person calling for a “no” vote o
  • not be participating in the Brotherhood’s protests
  • en in the referendum, compared to the low youth turnout. In a speech addressed t
  • o women on the day
  • women looking for safety and stability,
  • treating them with injustice
  • prefer peace and tolerance
  • youth’s low participation
  • a silent protest to abstain from taking part
  • katelynklug on 29 Sep 14
     
    Both the current Egyptian authorities and the Muslim Brotherhood have failed to attract the support of the youth, while women participated in the recent referendum to support stability. The youth see the remnants of Mubarak's administration through the government structure. The revolution wouldn't be important without changes to the government. Many political groups are trying to coax the youth to being on "their side," and meanwhile, the Egyptian youth are struggling to find any positives. Gaining the vote of the youth generally means a win or loss for the politicians.
  • katelynklug on 29 Sep 14
     
    Both the current Egyptian authorities and the Muslim Brotherhood have failed to attract the support of the youth, while women participated in the recent referendum to support stability. The youth see the remnants of Mubarak's administration through the government structure. The revolution wouldn't be important without changes to the government. Many political groups are trying to coax the youth to being on "their side," and meanwhile, the Egyptian youth are struggling to find any positives. Gaining the vote of the youth generally means a win or loss for the politicians.
diamond03

Egypt's post-Morsi constitution gets almost total voters' approval - RT News - 0 views

rt.com/...tution-referendum-approval-833

shared by diamond03 on 08 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • 98.1% of Egyptians said yes to the new constitution in this week’s referendum.
  • outlawed Muslim brotherhood says it does not recognize the vote
  • approving the constitution as the first step towards restoring stability.
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • “unrivalled success
  • Now that God has supported us in legalizing our constitution, we ask for his aid in achieving the remaining two stages of the road map: the presidential and parliamentary elections," Salib
  • constitution was an article stipulating that Sharia law will be the main source of legislation,
  • insisted the reference to Sharia law remain, albeit in a watered-down version.
  • Egyptian Christians and liberals on the constitutional committee attempted to remove all mentions of Sharia law from the constitutio
  • seen as an improvemen
  • eliminates various articles that gave legal and political authority to Egypt’s highest Islamic Institution, the Al-Azhar University.
  • allows a presidential election to be held before parliamentary vote in a change to the transition plan announced by the army in July.
  • 55 percent, was still higher than in the 2012 referendum on the constitution, which was drafted while Mohamed Morsi was in powe
  • uslim Brotherhood boycotted the poll, saying it was illegitimate, as did several revolutionary groups and there were reports of low youth turnout in general.
  • charter has been approve
  • Morsi
  • is expected to win
  • diamond03 on 08 Oct 14
     
    Ninety-eight percent of Egyptians voted yes for a new constitution. Sharia law was debated by the Egyptian Christians. The new constitution is seen as an improvement to the Muslim Brotherhood constitution. 
alarsso

Syria's beleaguered Christians - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-22270455

syria civil war middle east religion Christians

shared by alarsso on 15 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • Christian men have been fighting in the multi-layered conflict - either alongside Kurdish militias or alongside relatively secular rebel factions, or government forces.
  • 10% of Syria's 22 million people.
  • Greek Orthodox Church,
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • Christians have long been among Syria's elite
  • The founder of the Baath Party
  • was a Christian, and Christians rose to senior positions in the party, government and security forces
  • not seen to have any real power compared with their Alawite and Sunni colleagues.
  • large proportion
  • Sunnis also tolerated or supported the Assads,
  • guarantors of stability
  • When pro-democracy protests erupted
  • many Christians were cautious and tried to avoid taking sides.
  • Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III Laham said last year that more than 1,000 Christians had been killed, entire villages cleared, and dozens of churches and Christian centres damaged or destroyed.
  • This has led some Christians to express support for President Assad,
  • if President Assad is overthrown, Christians will be targeted and communities destroyed as many were in Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003.
  • concerned by the coming to power of Islamist parties in post-revolutionary Egypt and Tunisia.
  • Other Christians are believed to be assisting the opposition.
  • Syrian National Council, whose leader
  • is from a Christian family.
  • alarsso on 15 Apr 15
     
    Thsi article explores the state of Christians in Syria. Patriarch Gregorios and Bishop Ibrahim add to this discussion.
fcastro2

Turkey says training of Syrian rebels to begin on March 1 - 0 views

www.todayszaman.com/o-begin-on-march-1_373816.html

turkey training ISIS syria politics US

shared by fcastro2 on 01 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • A program to train and equip moderate syrian rebels will get under way on March 1, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
  • Tanju Bilgiç, came after Turkey and the us recently announced the signing of a long-anticipated deal to train and equip the rebels.
  • some 2,000 Syrian rebels will be trained and equipped in Turkey within a year as part of the program
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • The agreement comes at a time when fighting has escalated between rebels and the Syrian regime in and around Aleppo and talks of a cease-fire in the northern province are taking place.
  • Turkey was one of the three countries that publicly said it was ready to open its territory for the training of the Syrian rebels.
  • US had earlier said it was considering initially dispatching at least 400 troops to train the rebels outside of Syria
  • We have been saying for a long time that the international community has the responsibility to support the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which is recognized by 114 countries and the groups related to the coalition,” said Çavuşoğlu, adding that the training agreement is an important step taken within this framework.
  • “England is also carrying out similar training [programs] in Libya. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also announced that they will be hosting a train-and-equip program,”
  • The deal between Ankara and Washington is a positive development between the two long-standing allies, despite strains over Middle Eastern policy. Turkey wants President Bashar al-Assad's departure to be the focus in Syria, while Washington's priority remains battling ISIL insurgents.
  • The NATO ally has also has been facing backlash for its reluctance to join the US-led coalition efforts to eliminate ISIL, feeding speculation that this reluctance stems from some Turkish officials being ideologically close to the terrorist group.
  • Turkish authorities have strongly condemned the terrorist acts of ISIL militants and say these actions have nothing to do with Islam.
  • fcastro2 on 01 Mar 15
     
    Turkey has announced that, along with the US, they will be training some 2,000 Syrian rebels. Tensions have been rising between Syria and Turkey ever since Turkey went into Syria to retrieve a historical figure and relocate him but they are hoping this move will calm the tensions between the two states. 
allieggg

Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East's 30 year war » The Spectator - 0 views

www.spectator.co.uk/...armageddon-awaits

proxy wars leadership polarization US Saudi Iran the middle east war

shared by allieggg on 21 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • There are those who think that the region as a whole may be starting to go through something similar to what Europe went through in the early 17th century during the Thirty Years’ War, when Protestant and Catholic states battled it out. This is a conflict which is not only bigger than al-Qa’eda and similar groups, but far bigger than any of us. It is one which will re-align not only the Middle East, but the religion of Islam.
  • Either way there will be a need for a Treaty of Westphalia-style solution — a redrawing of boundaries in a region where boundaries have been bursting for decades.
  • But for the time being, a distinct and timeless stand-off between two regional powers, with religious excuses and religiously affiliated proxies will in all probability remain the main driver of this conflict.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • ‘Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the birthplace of Islam. As such, it is the eminent leader of the wider Muslim world. Iran portrays itself as the leader of not just the minority Shiite world, but of all Muslim revolutionaries interested in standing up to the West.’
  • ‘Saudi Arabia will oppose any and all of Iran’s actions in other countries, because it is Saudi Arabia’s position that Iran has no right to meddle in other nations’ internal affairs, especially those of Arab states.’
  • Saudi officials more recently called for the Iranian leadership to be summoned to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes. Then, just the month before last, as the P5+1 countries eased sanctions on Iran after arriving at an interim deal in Geneva, Saudi saw its greatest fear — a nuclear Iran — grow more likely. And in the immediate aftermath of the Geneva deal, Saudi sources darkly warned of the country now taking Iranian matters ‘into their own hands’. There are rumours that the Saudis would buy nuclear bombs ‘off the shelf’ from their friends in Pakistan if Iran ever reaches anything like the nuclear threshold. In that  case, this Westphalian solution could be prefaced with a mushroom cloud.
  • allieggg on 21 Nov 14
     
    This article touches on an array of ideas but for the sake of my research I focused on the "Thirty Years War" section. Douglass Murray from The Spectator conveys the perspective that the Middle East is likely to be going through a similar 17th century European 30 years war, when Protestant and Catholics launched a full fledged war against one another. This means that religious war in the Middle East is so much bigger than just al-Qaeda and similar groups. The conflict will re-align the region, but also the entire religion of Islam. Douglass says the outcome would call for a Treaty of Westphalia-style solution, redrawing boundaries of a region where they've been bursting for decades.  For the time being the drivers of the conflict is a standoff between the two regional powers and their affiliated proxies, Saudi Arabia and Iran. 
agomez117

Egyptian graffiti artists target whitewashed walls and the president - 1 views

photoblog.nbcnews.com/...washed-walls-and-the-president

egypt revolution egyptian war art

shared by agomez117 on 10 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • agomez117 on 10 Nov 14
     
    Reuters - No sooner had Egyptian authorities painted over a wall of revolutionary graffiti near Tahrir Square this week than the street artists were back with spray cans and a new target: President Mohamed Mursi.
mpatel5

Jihadists edging out US allies in Syria - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-29902384

ISIS US SRF Syrian-Revolutionary-Front Maarouf Kurds

shared by mpatel5 on 11 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • mpatel5 on 11 Nov 14
     
    Six weeks have passed since the US-led coalition began its strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants and other jihadist groups in Syria, but recent developments in the stricken country confirm that the mission is facing huge challenges, as BBC Arabic's Feras Kilani reports "We are vanishing before the eyes of the whole world, including our friends in the US," a disappointed moderate commander told the BBC over the phone, after his group's defeat by the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.
allieggg

Can Libya Rebuild Itself After 40 Years of Gaddafi? - 0 views

www.newsweek.com/f-after-40-years-gaddafi-68601

Gaddafi libya Arab Nationalism recontruction political tabula rasa Revolution politics middle east

shared by allieggg on 12 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • the man has hollowed out the Libyan state, eviscerated all opposition in Libyan society, and, in effect, created a political tabula rasa on which a newly free people will now have to scratch out a future.
  • Jamahiriya, a political system that is run directly by tribesmen without the intermediation of state institutions
  • the problem is, of course, that much like in the former Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe, virtually everyone at one point or another had to deal with the regime to survive.
  • ...25 more annotations...
  • Libya is truly a case apart.
  • the disastrous Italian legacy in Libya, has been a constant element in Gaddafi’s speeches since he took power
  • inspired by Gamal Abdel Nasser, neighboring Egypt’s president, whose ideas of Arab nationalism and of the possibility of restoring glory to the Arab world, would fuel the first decade of Gaddafi’s revolution.
  • he was unimpressed with the niceties of international diplomacy,
  • In a brilliant move that co-opted tribal elders, many of whom were also military commanders, he created the Social Leadership People’s Committee, through which he could simultaneously control the tribes and segments of the country’s military.
  • When it turned out that Libya, which was still a decentralized society in 1969, had little appetite for his centralizing political vision and remained largely indifferent to his proposals, the young idealist quickly turned activist.
  • Green Book, a set of slim volumes published in the mid-1970s that contain Gaddafi’s political philosophy, a blueprint is offered for a dramatic restructuring of Libya’s economy, politics, and society. In principle, Libya would become an experiment in democracy. In reality, it became a police state where every move of its citizens was carefully watched by a growing number of security apparatuses and revolutionary committees that owed loyalty directly to Gaddafi.
  • Having crushed all opposition by the mid-1970s, the regime systematically snuffed out any group that could potentially oppose it—any activity that could be construed as political opposition was punishable by death, which is one reason why a post-Gaddafi Libya, unlike a post-Mubarak Egypt, can have no ready-made opposition in a position to fill the vacuum.
  • The tribes—the Warfalla, the Awlad Busayf, the Magharha, the Zuwaya, the Barasa, and the smallest of them all, the Gadafa, to which he belonged—offered a natural form of political affiliation, a tribal ethos that could be tapped into for support. And perhaps, in the aftermath of Gaddafi, they could serve as a nucleus around which to build a new political system.
  • Gaddafi feared they might coalesce into groups opposing his rule. So, during the first two decades after the 1969 coup, he tried to erase their influence, arguing that they were an archaic element in a modern society.
  • comprehensive reconstruction of everything civic, political, legal, and moral that makes up a society and its government.
  • After systematically destroying local society, after using the tribes to cancel each other out, after aborting methodically the emergence of a younger generation that could take over Libya’s political life—all compounded by the general incoherence of the country’s administrative and bureaucratic institutions—Gaddafi will have left a new Libya with severe and longstanding challenges.
  • the growing isolation of Libya as international sanctions were imposed.
  • Lockerbie was the logical endpoint for a regime that had lost all international legitimacy.
  • while the regime still had the coercive power to put down any uprisings that took place in the 1990s, it became clear to Gaddafi’s closest advisers that the potential for unrest had reached unprecedented levels.
  • way out was to come to an agreement with the West that would end the sanctions, allow Libya to refurbish an aging oil infrastructure, and provide a safety valve by permitting Libyans to travel abroad once more.
  • intent to renounce weapons of mass destruction in December 2003—after a long process of behind-the-scenes diplomacy initially spearheaded by Britain
  • “The Revolution Everlasting” was one of the enduring slogans of his Libya, inscribed everywhere from bridges to water bottles.
  • regime that had, for four decades, mismanaged the country’s economy and humiliated its citizens
  • country was split in half, with eastern Cyrenaica and its main city Benghazi effectively independent—a demonstration of the kind of people’s power Gaddafi had always advocated. Reality, in effect, outgrew the caricature.
  • used a set of divide-and-rule policies that not only kept his opponents sundered from each other, but had also completely enfeebled any social or political institution in the country.
  • Beyond Gaddafi, there exists only a great political emptiness, a void that Libya somehow will need to fill.
  • the creation of a modern state where Libyans become true citizens, with all the rights and duties this entails.
  • the terrorist incidents
  • Regimes can use oil revenues strategically to provide patronage that effectively keeps them in power.
  • allieggg on 12 Nov 14
     
    This article from News Week basically paints a picture of Libyan history and how Gaddafi's reign devastated the state economically, socially, and politically. Author Dirk Vandewalle uses the phrase "a political tabula rasa" which in Latin means a blank slate, to describe the fate of Libya after Gaddafi's rule and convey the extent to which the country has to literally reconstruct every component that makes up a society and its government. He highlights major events that led to the downfall of both the Gaddafi regime and the Libyan state as a whole such as Arab nationalism, Jamahiriya, the Green Book, security apparatuses snuffing all opposition, terrorist incidents, isolation and international sanctions, the Lockerbie bombing, weapons of mass destruction, human right violations, divide and rule policies, and his use of oil revenue to fuel his insurgency. Vandewalle concludes the article with uncertain ideas thoughts towards Libya's future and the way the state is going to literally rebuild themselves from this "blank slate" that Gaddafi left behind. 
agomez117

Walls of Freedom: New German-Egyptian Book Looks at Graffiti in Cairo & the Egyptian Revolution , Cairo, Egypt. - 1 views

www.cairogossip.com/...-cairo-the-egyptian-revolution

shared by agomez117 on 10 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • agomez117 on 10 Nov 14
     
    04 August 2013 Egyptian street art is everywhere; from the dark underside of 6 th October Bridge to the face of Giza Zoo - and even on the sides of tanks. Since the January 25th Revolution, artists in Cairo have been in inspired form and as a city, Cairo has become a forerunner in Middle-Eastern revolutionary art.
nfyffe

Iran general helped Iraq's Kurds battle IS group - 1 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...4-8042-aaff1640082e_story.html

shared by nfyffe on 29 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • nfyffe on 29 Sep 14
     
    TEHRAN, Iran - A top Iranian general and 70 of his forces were on the ground in Iraq this summer, helping Kurdish fighters defend the regional capital Irbil against Islamic State militants, a senior commander from Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Wednesday.
allieggg

Mapping Libya's armed groups - Middle East - Al Jazeera English - 0 views

www.aljazeera.com/...lained-201452293619773132.html

libya armed groups middle east Revolution recontruction war militias

shared by allieggg on 12 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • Haftar accuses Congress of allowing "terrorists" to flourish in Libya and has vowed to "wipe them out", gaining support from much of the regular armed forces and nationalist militias. Other militias have lined up to oppose him, insisting his attacks amount to a "coup".
  • 1. National Army
  • 2. Regular forces
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • re-formed to help fight in the uprising against Gaddafi in 2011.
  • composed of non-Islamist fighters and former soldiers
  • Haftar used it to launch Operation Libyan Dignity on May 16, saying his mission was to dissolve the General National Congress, which he labelled Islamist, and to destroy "terrorists" he said Congress had allowed to establish bases in Libya.
  • National Army is a nationalist armed group controlled by Khalifa Haftar, rather than Libya’s national army.
  • small army and air force have mostly defected to Haftar. Libya’s armed forces fought on both Gaddafi and the rebel side in the 2011 uprising. Since then, the army has been rebuilding, with most of its units in training.
  • fighting a tit-for-tat battle against Islamist militias for more than a year.
  • 3. Zintan
  • Zintan's militias are the second most powerful armed force in Libya, after Misrata, and based in the Nafusa mountains 144km southwest of Tripoli.
  • regard themselves as opponents of both Congress and Islamists.
  • Zintan formed one of the three fronts in the uprising and by the end of that uprising, Zintan brigades surged into Tripoli, with several maintaining bases in the city and holding the international airport.
  • 2. Ansar al-Sharia
  • 1. LROR 
  • Libyan Revolutionary Operations Room was formed in 2013 as the headquarters of the Libya Shield, an alliance of pro-Congress militias.
  • accused by opponents of being Islamist,
  • LROR led a powerful Shield force to Tripoli last year to defend Congress.
  • 3. Misrata
  • With strong affiliations with the Muslim Brotherhood’s Justice and Construction Party, LROR will have much to lose if Haftar takes power.
  • dedicated to establishing a caliphate in Libya
  • The US blamed Ansar al-Sharia for the assault on the US consulate in Benghazi that saw the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens in 2012.
  • On May 18, two days after Hiftar’s forces attacked Benghazi, two Zintan militias stormed the national congress building in Tripoli.
  • Misrata’s 235 militia brigades are collectively the most powerful single force in Libya, fighting through a six-month siege during the uprising.
  • They are equipped with heavy weapons, tanks and truck-launched rockets and have the power to be a decisive force in any struggle between Haftar and Islamist forces.
  • Many Misratan leaders back the Islamists in Congress, and Misratan brigades once formed a key part of the Libya Shield force in Tripoli.
  • allieggg on 12 Nov 14
     
    After the ousting of the Gaddafi regime the country pivoted into civil chaos. Because of the deficiency of structure and state autonomy, armed militias have become the dominant force in determining Libya's future governmental system. While the UN has internationally recognized the NTC as the interim government to ultimately turn the country into a democratic one, militias have taken things into their own hands tipping the country towards the brink of civil war. General Khalifa Haftar launched his Operation Dignity campaign accusing congress of allowing terrorists flourish in Libya and vowed to wipe them out, gaining much support from the regular armed forces and nationalist militias. The opposition to Haftar insist that his attacks are aiming for a military coup. This article was helpful in highlighting the armed groups and dividing them by Pro-Haftar and Pro-Congress sections. 
alarsso

Syria after Assad: Heading toward a Hard Fall? - The Washington Institute for Near East Policy - 0 views

www.washingtoninstitute.org/...sad-heading-toward-a-hard-fall

syria post-assad heading institute outcome

shared by alarsso on 16 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • To a certain extent, the nature of the transition will be i
  • nfluenced by how the Assad regime leaves the scene.
  • forces retain their cohesion
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • control
  • whether the opposition moves to purge regime employees
  • offices are trashed and looted
  • violent power struggle
  • unitary state with a strong central government is unlikely to emerge from the civil war.
  • great challenges exerting control over local leaders who fought the regime
  • ederation of warlords (probably former military and security chiefs) ruling over fiefdoms
  • unitary entity
  • Syrian army
  • opposition will have more time to set up rudimentary institutions
  • provide humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees
  • likely be accompanied by a new round of massacres and ethnic cleansing
  • Sunni extremist groups.
  • new opportunities for external actors, especially Iran and Hizballah, both of which would seek allies among the former regime's Alawite security elite
  • Iran's
  • remain a major player in the Levant
  • hostile to Iran and more closely aligned with Turkey, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia.
  • revolutionary Sunni government in Syria
  • Iran and Hizballah
  • support to former regime
  • Washington should continue with preparations to contain spillover from the conflict
  • enabling it to collect tariffs on imports
  • Washington will need to know as much as it can about the key players,
wmulnea

Strife in Libya Could Presage Long Civil War - NYTimes.com - 1 views

www.nytimes.com/...libyan-unrest.html

shared by wmulnea on 21 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • Salah Badi, an ultraconservative Islamist and former lawmaker from the coastal city of Misurata.
  • Mr. Badi’s assault on Libya’s main international airport has now drawn the country’s fractious militias, tribes and towns into a single national conflagration that threatens to become a prolonged civil war. Both sides see the fight as part of a larger regional struggle, fraught with the risks of a return to repressive authoritarianism or a slide toward Islamist extremism.
  • the violence threatens to turn Libya into a pocket of chaos destabilizing North Africa for years to come.
  • ...37 more annotations...
  • Ansar al-Shariah, the hard-line Islamist group involved in the assault on the American diplomatic Mission in Benghazi in 2012
  • Their opponents, including the militias stocked with former Qaddafi soldiers
  • The ideological differences are blurry at best: both sides publicly profess a similar conservative but democratic vision.
  • an escalating war among its patchwork of rival cities and tribes.
  • Motorists wait in lines stretching more than three miles at shuttered gas stations, waiting for them to open. Food prices are soaring, uncollected garbage is piling up in the streets and bicycles, once unheard-of, are increasingly common.
  • Tripoli, the capital and the main prize, has become a battleground
  • The fighting has destroyed the airport
  • Constant shelling between rival militias has leveled blocks
  • Storage tanks holding about 25 million gallons of fuel have burned unchecked for a month
  • with daily blackouts sometimes lasting more than 12 hours.
  • many Libyans despaired of any resolution
  • In Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city, the fighting has closed both its airport and seaport, strangling the city.
  • the rush toward war is also lifting the fortunes of the Islamist extremists of Ansar al-Shariah, the Benghazi militant group.
  • The United Nations, the United States and the other Western powers have withdrawn their diplomats and closed their missions
  • “We cannot care more than you do,” the British ambassador, Michael Aron, wrote
  • Until now, a rough balance of power among local brigades had preserved a kind of equilibrium, if not stability
  • the transitional government scarcely existed outside of the luxury hotels where its officials gathered, no other force was strong enough to dominate. No single interest divided the competing cities and factions.
  • But that semblance of unity is now in tatters, and with it the hope that nonviolent negotiations might settle the competition for power and, implicitly, Libya’s oil.
  • In May, a renegade former general, Khalifa Hifter, declared that he would seize power by force to purge Libya of Islamists, beginning in Benghazi. He vowed to eradicate the hard-line Islamists of Ansar al-Shariah, blamed for a long series of bombings and assassinations.
  • General Hifter also pledged to close the Parliament and arrest moderate Islamist members
  • he has mustered a small fleet of helicopters and warplanes that have bombed rival bases around Benghazi, a steep escalation of the violence.
  • moderate Islamists and other brigades who had distanced themselves from Ansar al-Shariah began closing ranks, welcoming the group into a newly formed council of “revolutionary” militias
  • a broad alliance of Benghazi militias that now includes Ansar al-Shariah issued a defiant statement denouncing relative moderates like the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood. “We will not accept the project of democracy, secular parties, nor the parties that falsely claim the Islamic cause,”
  • the general’s blitz has now stalled, it polarized the country, drawing alarms from some cities and tribes but applause from others.
  • the loudest applause came from the western mountain town of Zintan, where local militia leaders had recruited hundreds of former Qaddafi soldiers into special brigades
  • the rival coastal city of Misurata, where militias have allied with the Islamists in political battles and jostled with the Zintanis for influence in the capital
  • the Misurata and Islamist militias developed a reputation for besieging government buildings and kidnapping high officials to try to pressure the Parliament. But in recent months the Zintanis and their anti-Islamist allies have stormed the Parliament and kidnapped senior lawmakers as well.
  • the newly elected Parliament, led at first, on a seniority basis, by a member supportive of Mr. Hifter, announced plans to convene in Tobruk, an eastern city under the general’s control.
  • About 30 members, most of them Islamists or Misuratans, refused to attend,
  • Tripoli’s backup airport, under the control of an Islamist militia, has cut off flights to Tobruk, even blocking a trip by the prime minister.
  • a spokesman for the old disbanded Parliament, favored by the Islamists and Misuratans, declared that it would reconvene in Tripoli
  • In Tobruk, a spokesman for the new Parliament declared that the Islamist- and Misuratan-allied militias were terrorists, suggesting that Libya might soon have two legislatures with competing armies
  • Each side has the support of competing satellite television networks financed and, often, broadcast from abroad, typically from Qatar for the Islamists and from the United Arab Emirates for their foes.
  • Hassan Tatanaki, a Libyan-born business mogul who owns one of the anti-Islamist satellite networks, speaking in an interview from an office in the Emirates. “We are in a state of war and this is no time for compromise.”
  • Fighters and tribes who fought one another during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi are now coming together on the same side of the new fight, especially with the Zintanis against the Islamists. Some former Qaddafi officers who had fled Libya are even coming back to take up arms again.
  • “It is not pro- or anti-Qaddafi any more — it is about Libya,” said a former Qaddafi officer in a military uniform
  • Beneath the battle against “extremists,” he said, was an even deeper, ethnic struggle: the tribes of Arab descent, like the Zintanis, against those of Berber, Circassian or Turkish ancestry, like the Misuratis. “The victory will be for the Arab tribes,”
  • andrea_hoertz on 21 Sep 14
     
    Article explains the civil war that is erupting in Libya. Islamist extremists are trying to take over the country and towns and tribes of Libya are choosing sides. Tripoli has been the biggest battle ground and its airport was destroyed.
  • wmulnea on 11 Apr 15
     
    This NYT article gives an excellent outline of the prominent factions fighting in Libya, and the purpose and goals of those factions as of Aug, 2014.
  • wmulnea on 11 Apr 15
     
    This NYT article gives an excellent outline of the prominent factions fighting in Libya, and the purpose and goals of those factions as of Aug, 2014.
mkulach

Egypt's revolutionaries - where are they now? - BBC News - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-35401868

Egypt activists revolution change oppression 2016

shared by mkulach on 27 Jan 16 - No Cached
  • mkulach on 27 Jan 16
     
    These are some snaps of where activists and protestors from Egypt's revolution are today. Many of them are in prison, some have fled abroad and others are restricting their activism. Some still have hope for change, but many see that Egypt actually is more oppressed today than under Mubarak.
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