Government

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” Edward R. Murrow

 David Roberts

Egypt: Where Were You on the Day When…

Egypt: Where Were You on the Day When…

DAVID ROBERTS: How exactly people think things will ipso facto get better I don’t understand. You can’t eat or pay rent with democracy.

 Michael J. Totten

Egypt Public Opinion: Islamists or Modernizers

Egypt Public Opinion: Islamists or Modernizers

MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: I worry Egyptians are going to have to learn the hardest way possible – as the Iranians have – modernizers are better.

 Juan Cole

Egypt’s Class Conflict: An Elite, and Everyone Else

Egypt’s Class Conflict: An Elite, and Everyone Else

JUAN COLE: The failure of the regime to connect with working and middle classes, and its inability to provide jobs set the stage for last week’s events.

 Alexander McNabb

The Day the Egyptians Stopped Seeing the Joke

The Day the Egyptians Stopped Seeing the Joke

ALEXANDER MCNABB: Every time elections would come around, Egyptians would laugh about how this time he was going to lose. It struck me the other day the laughing had stopped.

 SuhaibWebb

A View from the Street in Cairo: Fear, and Hope

A View from the Street in Cairo: Fear, and Hope

SUHAIBWEBB: The curfew is in place, police have disappeared, essential supplies are running out. With the excitement there is also a sense of fear.

 Common Ground News Service

South Africa Provides Inspiration for Lebanon

South Africa Provides Inspiration for Lebanon

DAVID BEATTY: There’s an aspect of South African society called ‘ubuntu’ – it means ‘interconnectedness’. It could point the way for Lebanon.

 Rob L. Wagner

After the Flood: Rising Saudi Anger Getting Response

After the Flood: Rising Saudi Anger Getting Response

ROB L. WAGNER: The Facebook images, twitter messages and online videos fuel Saudi anger and repeatedly raise the question why authorities learned nothing from 2009.

 Ramzy Baroud

Tunisia: How We Got Here and the Task Ahead

Tunisia: How We Got Here and the Task Ahead

RAMZY BAROUD: In Tunisia that ‘unprecedented anger” has reaped unprecedented results, leaving Tunisia with the great task of rebuilding a civil society.

 Omar al-Issawi

The End of the Age of Mediocrity, the Rise of the Age of the People

The End of the Age of Mediocrity, the Rise of the Age of the People

OMAR AL-ISSAWI: For years I’ve observed with great sadness Arabs who glorified the achievements of a distant past while offering nothing for the future.

 James M. Dorsey

Soccer Fans Play Key Role in Egyptian Protests

Soccer Fans Play Key Role in Egyptian Protests

JAMES M. DORSEY: The involvement of organized soccer fans in Egypt’s anti-government protests constitutes every Arab government’s worst nightmare.

 Hisham Wyne

The Hard Truths and Betrayals Revealed by The Palestine Papers

The Hard Truths and Betrayals Revealed by The Palestine Papers

HISHAM WYNE: The release of the Palestine Papers will be seen as pivotal. Fundamental truths have been revealed.

 Syria News Wire

Ambassadors not a ‘reward’ for good deeds done

Ambassadors not a ‘reward’ for good deeds done

SYRIA NEWS WIRE: Richard Grenell has attacked President Obama for appointing an ambassador to Syria. The attack though is littered with factual inaccuracies.

 Juan Cole

Palestine Papers: ‘Peace process? What Peace Process’

Palestine Papers: ‘Peace process? What Peace Process’

JUAN COLE: The 1600 documents leaked to Al Jazeerah could spell the end of the PLO and drive the nail in the coffin of the so-called ‘peace process’.

 James M. Dorsey

Governments Undermining MidEast Soccer

Governments Undermining MidEast Soccer

JAMES M. DORSEY: In a soccer-crazy world of authoritarian regimes, football offers one of society’s few release valves.

 Naseem Tarawnah

Evolution not Revolution To Spark Jordan Reform

Evolution not Revolution To Spark Jordan Reform

NASEEM TARAWNAH: The issues bringing Jordanians onto the streets are of Jordanian origin and will be solved by Jordanians. Fundamental change is not on the agenda.

 Steve Royston

Islamaphobia and the Clash of Civilizations

Islamaphobia and the Clash of Civilizations

STEVE ROYSTON: If I was advising the UK on a strategy to contain Islamophobia, it would be to communicate the distinction between faith and behaviour.

 Eman-Al-Nafjan

Social Media is Catalysing Arab World Change

Social Media is Catalysing Arab World Change

EMAN AL-NAFJAN: Leaders throughout the Arab World are suspicious of new media. Their citizens are using tools not simply to communicate concerns, but campaign for change.

 The Moor Next Door

Bouazizi’s Self-Immolation Spreads to Mauritania

Bouazizi’s Self-Immolation Spreads to Mauritania

TMND: Thus far, four Algerians and an Egyptian and a Mauritanian each have lit them selves on fire in protests meant to recall Bouazizi…

 James M. Dorsey

Tunisia: A Case of Careful What You Wish For?

Tunisia: A Case of Careful What You Wish For?

JAMES M. DORSEY: Ben Ali’s departure has thrown Tunisia into turmoil. The country, at least for now has lost tourism, one of its main sources of foreign income…

 Zeinobia

Tunis: Going, Going Gone, All the President’s Men

Tunis: Going, Going Gone, All the President’s Men

ZEINOBIA: Egyptian Chronicles reports on the fate of the “regime men”, Ben Ali’s right arms in the former Tunisian government.