Month: April 2012

  • News and Analysis (4/11/12)

    “It is now clear that Egypt’s new constitution will not be finished before a new president is elected by June. That means the old constitution, which gives the president near-dictatorial powers, will still prevail when the military council that has ruled Egypt for the past year is replaced”: Egyptian Court Ruling Raises Stakes in Presidential…

  • News and Analysis (4/9/12)

    Syria refuse to honor its agreement, adding new conditions, and escalating the violence until it spills over the borders with Turkey and Lebanon: Syria Peace Plan Doubt as Assad Refuses to Meet Deadline for Troop Withdrawal (Guardian) Syrian Rebels Reject New Demands as Ceasefire Nears (BBC) Fighting Rages in Syria Less than 24 Hours to Deadline (Reuters)…

  • News and Analysis (4/7/12)

    With escalating violence in Syria condemned by the U.N. secretary-general, Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood promises”to establish pluralism and democracy in a civil constitutional State, with equality of all citizens – even in access to the country’s ‘highest level posts,’ and with full respect for human rights and freedoms” … Syria Muslim Brotherhood Issue Post-Assad Commitment Charter…

  • The FJP Vision Is Inspiring, but Is It Believable?

    I attended the presentation given by the Freedom and Justice Party’s delegation to the U.S. at Georgetown University sponsored by the Al-Waleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding last Wednesday. The FJP advocates on the panel spoke well and for the most part presented an inspiring vision for Egypt’s future. They spoke of the centrality of freedom, …

  • News and Analysis (4/5/12)

    Liberals, secularists and even some members of the Muslim Brotherhood are “furious” or “livid” over the FJP’s about-face on running a presidential candidate, but the New York Times reports that their “candidate is in regular contact with U.S. Ambassador Anne Paterson, and that U.S. officials have praised his moderation, intelligence and effectiveness”: Why the U.S. May Be…

  • News and Analysis (4/4/12)

    A political anthropologist accuses the West of de-democratizing the Middle East “because seldom did its power elites see the region as a people with diverse, dynamic social-cultural texture instead of a repository of multiple resources and strategic interests. Hence their prime aim was to keep the Middle East ‘stable’ and ‘manageable’”: How the West De-democratised the…

  • News and Analysis (4/2/12)

    By breaking its promise to stay out of Egypt’s presidential election,  the Muslim Brotherhood has spoiled its reputation for integrity to the point that members are defecting and it does not ameliorate dissatisfaction with its dominance over the panel charged with writing the constitution: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Criticized for Presidential Candidate (Washington Post with Foreign…

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