James M. Dorsey

It’s Official: A Revolution Improves A Country’s Football Performance

It’s Official: A Revolution Improves A Country’s Football Performance

JAMES M. DORSEY: A study has revealed that 5 North African nations experiencing upheaval in 2011 have seen football teams improve markedly.

 Syria News Wire

Syria Jails Blogger: A Courageous and Committed Critic of the Assad Regime

Syria Jails Blogger: A Courageous and Committed Critic of the Assad Regime

SYRIA NEWS WIRE: The Syrian authorities’ patience with one of their most consistent and trenchant critics has snapped with Razan Ghazzawi’s arrest.

 Ramzy Baroud

Turkey Foreign Policy Falls Over Syrian ‘Abyss’

Turkey Foreign Policy Falls Over Syrian ‘Abyss’

RAMZY AL BAROUD: However, the Syrian uprising in March leading the country down the road to civil war – has forced Turkey to abandon its ‘zero-problems’ foreign policy.

 Ramzy Baroud

Controlling Syria’s Future: In Whose Hands?

Controlling Syria’s Future: In Whose Hands?

RAMZY BAROUD: The lines are thus drawn, between US-led Western camp and Russia and its own camp, which vehemently rejects a repeat of a Libyan scenario.

 Mondoweiss

West’s 1% salivates over spoils of the Libyan 99%

West’s 1% salivates over spoils of the Libyan 99%

MONDOWEISS, MATTHEW TAYLOR: Whatever one thinks of The West’s role in this revolution, it should not have a free pass to engage in more oil imperialism.

 Rania Al Malky

Arab Spring: All Pain, No Gain, Just the Same?

Arab Spring: All Pain, No Gain, Just the Same?

RANIA AL MALKY: Is it logical that the ousted Mubarak, responsible for the disintegration of Egypt’s institutions is now living in a five-star hospital suite…

 Juan Cole

The Inevitably Brutal End of Qaddafi’s ‘Cult’

The Inevitably Brutal End of Qaddafi’s ‘Cult’

JUAN COLE: The demise of Qaddafi means there’s a contiguous bloc of 100 million Arabs who’ve thrown off dictatorship. The violent end was inevitable.

 Common Ground News Service

What Shape Should “the New Libya” Take?

What Shape Should “the New Libya” Take?

DR GHASSAN MICHEL RUBEIZ: It’s understandable that there will be significant differences in how various parties see Libya’s future. There are, though, important areas where agreement is needed

 The Moor Next Door

From the Front: An Encounter with Libyan Rebels

From the Front: An Encounter with Libyan Rebels

EILEEN BYRNE, TMND: Now that Qaddafi’s regime has been unseated thoughts of the men who did the fighting are turning to the nation’s immediate priorities.

 Chris Keeler

Is Syria Set to Become ‘the new Libya’?

Is Syria Set to Become ‘the new Libya’?

CHRIS KEELER: Non-violent protest appears to be nearing its end in Syria and there are signs that groups are organising an armed resistance against the regime.

 The Moor Next Door

Algeria & Libya: The Big Questions To Answer

Algeria & Libya: The Big Questions To Answer

TMND: It’s becoming clearer by the day that Algeria played a key role in supporting the Qadhafi regime, particularly in its dark, late days. The Algerians face some very uncomfortable questions

 David Westley

The End of Eid, The Start of the Beginning

The End of Eid, The Start of the Beginning

DAVID WESTLEY: This year, the return to ‘normality’ will be significantly harder to achieve for those countries that have gone through their Arab spring; the pathway to success is still far from clear.

 James M. Dorsey

Qaddafi Sons: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Qaddafi Sons: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

JAMES M. DORSEY: At face value, Saadi and Saif’s different positions appear to be at best a surprising reversal of roles with Saadi, described as “notoriously ill-behaved”.

 Ramzy Baroud

Libya & NATO: “To the Victor the Spoils”?

Libya & NATO: “To the Victor the Spoils”?

RAMZY BAROUD: The intervention by NATO in Libya was driven by clear, strategic political and economic interests. Their aims are unlikely, however, to be in the best interests of the Libyan people.

 The Moor Next Door

Libya and the U.S.: America’s Uncomfortable Role

Libya and the U.S.: America’s Uncomfortable Role

THE MOORE NEXT DOOR: The incentive to exaggerate America’s role is high on one side; the opposite push to down play its overall relevance will grow.

 James M. Dorsey

Damage limitation: China and Russia’s Options

Damage limitation: China and Russia’s Options

JAMES M. DORSEY: China and Russia could quietly establish relations with Syrian protesters if and when Mr. Assad is forced to relinquish power.

 Juan Cole

Top Ten Myths about the Libyan Revolution

Top Ten Myths about the Libyan Revolution

JUAN COLE: It is worthwhile reviewing the myths about the Libyan Revolution that led so many observers to make so many fantastic or just mistaken assertions about it.

 James M. Dorsey

Libya: MidEast Model or Revolution To Go Awry?

Libya: MidEast Model or Revolution To Go Awry?

JAMES M. DORSEY: Libyans unlike Egyptians and Tunisians will be in a position to dismantle the former regime’s apparatus.

 Juan Cole

‘All Very Messy’. The Top Five Crises in the Arab Spring

‘All Very Messy’. The Top Five Crises in the Arab Spring

JUAN COLE: Protestors are out on Tahrir Square again, there is a television ‘debate’ in Syria about democracy, the Americans are working on Saleh while vacillating on Libya and protestors are out on the street in Morocco. A busy week in the region then.

 James M. Dorsey

Arab Silence, West’s Symbolism, to Backfire in Syria

Arab Silence, West’s Symbolism, to Backfire in Syria

JAMES M. DORSEY: Western and Arab nations have more to gain from real engagement with Mr. Assad’s opponents than from symbolic gestures and silence.