Syria: New U.N. Resolution, Turkey Drafts Sanctions
Several E.U. powers plan to draft a new U.N. resolution, dropping the immediate calls for sanctions against Syria. Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal are proposing a scaled-back resolution aimed at appeasing the "BRICS" bloc in the U.N., that will threaten ...
Violence and Cuts in Oil Production Prompt Post-Assad Anxiety
Syria notified foreign oil companies to cut back oil production, as their storage capacity is full because of the imposed oil embargo by the E.U. The E.U. had bought 95% of Syria's oil exports, forcing Syria to seek outside buyers ...
Egypt: Strikes Persist Amid Economic Woes
Egyptian teachers, health technicians, and other workers returned to their jobs Monday after labor strikes last week left calls for higher wages and "labor reform" unanswered. Although SCAF's emergency law prohibits strikes and "grants police broad powers to detain striking ...
Report: Power Struggle Among Bahraini Royal Family
Patrick Cockburn writes that hardliners in the Bahraini royal family, including Khalifa bin Ahmed, and his brother, the Royal Court Minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed, are working to marginalise Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad, seen as the most liberal ...
September 27, 2011
Category: Bahrain, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Elections, Featured, Freedom, Gulf Cooperation Council, Political transition, Protests
September 27, 2011
Category: Bahrain, Diplomacy, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Political transition
Iran: Mousavi Likens Circumstances to “Hostage” Situation
Green Movement leader Mir Hossein Mousavi likened his house arrest to a hostage situation, comparing his circumstances to those found in Gabriel Marcia Marquez’s book, News of a Kidnapping. Mousavi made the analogy during a brief and heavily guarded ...
Egypt: Parliamentary Poll Dates and Electoral Changes
Egypt's parliamentary elections will now be held on November 28th, the first since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February. "The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has set November 28 as the start of the first stage of the parliamentary election, ...
Analysis: Saudi Reform is Exception, Not Rule
Writing in Foreign Policy, Simon Henderson cautions against giving excessive praise to Saudi King Abdullah's recent edict granting women the right to vote in municipal elections. Henderson argues that while King Abdullah's decree may signify progress, "some caution is ...
U.S. Congressmen Pledge Support for Tunisia Election
David Dreier (R-CA) led a delegation to Tunisia to show support for the country's upcoming elections. David Price (D-NC), Gwen Moore (D-WI), and Keith Ellison (D-MN) were part of the delegation. Dreier said "they were here to encourage Tunisia, ...
September 27, 2011
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Category: Elections, Featured, Foreign Aid, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Political Islam, Political transition, Tunisia, US foreign policy
Syria: As Dissident Army Organizes, Revolution May Enter “Militarized” Phase
As Syria's uprising finishes its sixth month and "protests aimed at overthrowing the regime and ousting President Bashar al-Assad have failed," Simon Tisdall of the Guardian speculates on whether Syria's uprising will see a militarization that will propel Syria into a "dangerous winter of discontent." Tisdall lists several reasons why militarization of the uprising may be an eventual outcome: 1) the lack of a unified opposition with enough credibility to garner international ...
Abbas: “The Palestinian Spring Is Here”
Upon his return to Ramallah after asking the U.N. to recognize Palestinian statehood on Friday, President Mahmoud Abbas told a crowd of supporters that "the Palestinian spring is here. A popular spring, a populist spring, a spring of peaceful struggle ...
September 26, 2011
Category: Featured, Palestine, Political transition, United Nations, US foreign policy
FY2012 Foreign Ops Budget Could be Significantly Slashed
As the FY2012 budget looms, Congress is under pressure to enact serious cuts, some of which target the FY2012 State and Foreign Operations Budget. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) have submitted a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of ...
September 26, 2011
Category: Congress, Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Featured, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy, US politics
POMED Notes: “Rule of Law in Egypt: Challenges for Democracy”
Partners for a New Beginning hosted a panel discussion at the Aspen Institute on the rule of law in Egypt and the challenges Egyptian democracy is encountering, as it attempts to transition from its current state under a military-led council to a fully functioning parliamentary democracy. Hdeel Abdelhady, the co-founder of the Egyptian American Rule of Law Association, moderated the discussion. Panelists included Nathan Brown, professor of political science and ...
September 26, 2011
Category: Egypt, Elections, Event Notes, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Political transition
September 26, 2011
Category: Civil Society, Elections, Featured, Freedom, Political transition, Protests, Yemen
Analysis: “Confirm Robert Ford as Syrian Ambassador”
In an op-ed for the LA Times, Max Boot, Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, arguesthat the Senate should confirm Robert Ford as Ambassador to Syria. Ford has been serving as ambassador since December, ...
“Real Threat in Egypt: Delayed Democracy”
In a Washington Post op-ed, Jackson Diehl discusses the fate of democracy in Egypt, suggesting that "elections are the most likely means of arresting the downward spiral." With a struggling tourist industry, and the prospect of Islamist elements taking ...
September 26, 2011
Category: Egypt, Elections, Featured, Freedom, Political transition, Reform, Uncategorized
Bahrain: Second Round of Elections Set for Oct. 1
Bahrain will hold a second round of elections on October 1 to fill the 9 seats in which no candidate received fifty percent of the vote in Saturday's by-elections. Of the other seats, "four deputies were elected in the ...
Weekly Wire – September 26
POMED's Weekly Wire for September 26 is now available. This week's edition includes coverage of the Saudi decision to grant women the right to vote in the 2015 elections. We also looked at Ali Abdullah Saleh's return to Yemen, intensified protests in Bahrain ahead of by-elections on Saturday, and renewed protests in Morocco. Bashar al-Assad continued to face international pressure, Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces extended the emergency law to next ...
Saleh Calls for Power Transfer
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh called for a peaceful transfer of power through early parliamentary and presidential elections. Saleh urged his vice president to start engaging with Yemen's opposition in order to sign a transition deal, as he is committed ...