Politics
Politics
Fair Observer's analysis of political issues, events and trends and their national, regional and international consequences.
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360° Analysis / Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi / Al-Sharif Nassef / Arab Uprisings / Democracy / Egypt / Egyptian Armed Forces / Egyptian Economy / Global Competitiveness Report / Hosni Mubarak / Human Rights / Islamism / June 30 Protests / Mohammed Morsi / Muslim Brotherhood / Politics / SCAF / State of Emergency / Middle East & North AfricaAchieving genuine progress in Egypt does not mean imposing restrictions. If Egyptians were to believe the current local media mantra, the country should currently be basking in a state of revolutionary afterglow since emerging victoriously from our second uprising in nearly as many years to slay the draconian Muslim Brotherhood (read: Islamo-fascist terrorists). The people’s Egyptian Armed Forces saved the nation from a group that shackled Egypt in its quest to achieve democracy and hijacked the revolution to actuate a plan to restore the Islamic Caliphate. To undo the damage that Islamists brought upon Egypt, the current transitional government of technocrats is working hand-in-hand...
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / Beji Caid Sebsi / Democracy / Ennahda / Free Patriotic Union Party / freedom of expression / Islamism / National Identity / Politics / Rashid Ghannouchi / Salafism / Secularism / Tunisia / Tunisian Football / UPL / Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali / Middle East & North AfricaBy Leyla DakhliTunisia struggles to define who the bearer of national legitimacy is. This is the last of a two part series. Read part one here. The business world has also made its entrance in this field. “There is no allegiance except to Tunisia” (La wala’illa litunis), say immense billboards in all of Tunis. The formula is strange; the basis of the national flag is an implicit echo of the Muslim profession of faith (there is no god but Allah). Red spots have invaded public space: bus stops and billboards of all sizes, with or without the slogan. This organized and institutionalized form of political posting, outside of an election campaign period, is striking. Also visible are the...
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360° Analysis / Alaa Al-Eryani / Arab Uprisings / Benjamin Wiacek / Campaign / Democracy / Divorce / Divorce Laws / Facebook / feminism / Islam / Politics / Traditionalism / Women's rights / Yemen / Yemeni Feminist Movement / Yemeni Society / Middle East & North AfricaThe issue of women's rights does not only concern women, but the whole of Yemeni society. Benjamin Wiacek speaks to Alaa Al-Eryani, a Yemeni women’s rights activist, who launched a page on Facebook dedicated to the Yemeni Feminist Movement. She talks to Wiacek about her initiative and dedication, and shares her insights on the situation of women in Yemen. Benjamin Wiacek: What is the Yemeni Feminist Movement? Alaa Al-Eryani: It is an intellectual movement that focuses on women’s rights and aims to improve the status of women in Yemen through promoting gender equality and opposing discrimination. This is addressed to everyone: women who are in denial and need awareness,...
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360° Analysis / Administration / CESE / Decentralization / Democracy / Economic Social Environmental Council / Jean AbiNader / King Mohammed VI / Libya / Local Governance / Maghreb / Morocco / Politics / Regionalization / Tourism / Tunisia / Middle East & North AfricaMorocco should focus on the details for effective regionalization. I have previously written about the initial report of the Economic, Social, and Environmental Council (CESE) in Morocco, which has been charged to assess the necessary conditions to implement regionalization in the southern provinces and eventually the entire country. I have detailed its major findings and procedures, discussed the roles of various stakeholders, and probed for likely priorities in preparing Morocco for regionalization. With the anticipated final report due before the end of the year, it is a good time to reflect on what is involved in regionalization, once it is defined in law. Regionalization and...
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / Arab Uprisings / Egypt / feminism / Gender / Ideology / Islamism / Mohammed Morsi / Muslim Brotherhood / NGO / Politics / Religion / Secular / Tradition / Transformation / Wanda Krause / Women's Activism / Women's rights / Middle East & North AfricaBy Wanda KrauseSecular and Islamist discourse in Egypt share a core essence of masculine dominance. Egypt and the wider Middle East are undergoing major change following revolutions. But what is the best way to plan for and navigate the future? A number of post-Arab Spring political and strategic analyses have managed to move beyond a focus on the state to identify trends in order to propose solutions. Among the significant trends, changes can be seen within ideology — which is borne not merely at the state but also at the grassroots level. But the attention given to what can be leveraged or rather contained is misplaced. Some of these works are pointing to the grassroots level but are superficially...
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360° Analysis / Egypt / Ennahda / Fair Observer / Foreign Policy Association / General Sisi / Ghannouchi / Ikhwan / Islam / Islamism / Islamists / Manuel Langendorf / Morsi / Muslim Brotherhood / Political Islam / Politics / Tunisia / Middle East & North AfricaIn the absence of other alternatives, Islamists were elected by default. Political Islam is among the most controversially discussed issues in the Middle East and North Africa. While modern Islamist political thought traces its origin back to a rejection of European encroachment into the Muslim world – as the work of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani demonstrates – the most prominent example of Islamist political activism is the Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna with a strong anti-colonial element, the Sunni movement was outlawed in 1948 and experienced decades of suppression until it rose to power after Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in 2011. The Arab...
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Adalah / australia / Bedouins / Beersheba / Canada / Human Rights / Indigenous Population / Israel / Israeli Citizenship / Israeli Supreme Court / Jewish Settlements / Land Rights / Negev Desert / Ottoman State / Politics / Prawer-Begin Plan / Siyag / United States of America / Focus Article / Middle East & North AfricaInjustice against Bedouins erodes the democratic character of Israel. On June 24, 2013, the Prawer-Begin bill regarding the regularization of Bedouin settlements in the Negev passed a vote at the Knesset in the first one of three readings required to become law. This bill addresses the controversial issue of regularizing Bedouin settlements in the Negev. The substance of the law includes the following directives: Recognizing some of the unrecognized villages that are located within an area northeast of Beersheba, known as the Siyag Relocating nearly 30,000 Bedouins, from unrecognized villages located outside the Siyag and slated for demolition into seven...
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Bashar Al-Assad / Egypt / Fatwa / Free Syrian Army / Hanaa Mohammed / Jihad / Jihad Al-Nikah / Martyrdom / Mohammed Badie / Muslim Brotherhood / Politics / Rabaa Sit-In / Saudi Arabia / Syria / Syrian Civil War / Tunisia / Women's rights / Focus Article / Middle East & North AfricaBy Iman BibarsSex jihad should be taken seriously and demands a thorough investigation. Jihad in Islam is the call to fight and go to war and be ready to die for the victory of Islam against the enemy, who is defined as an infidel. The call for Jihad is seen, by some religious scholars, as a higher spiritual value. To die for your religion is seen as an honor and is defined as martyrdom whereby the martyr is guaranteed heaven and all its privileges, including not being seen as dead but as alive in the kingdom of God. The concept of dying and sacrificing your life for God is more common in most of the major religions than one might think. However, the problem lies in who is defined as an...
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360° Analysis / Arab Uprisings / CESE / Dakhla / Economic Social and Environmental Council / governance / Judicial Reform / King Mohammed VI / Morocco / Nizar Baraka / Politics / Regionalization / Southern Provinces / Middle East & North AfricaIn Morocco, the need for game-changing actions is sooner rather than later. During my recent visit to Morocco, I was curious to discover if people, particularly those who are politically aware, were following what the country is doing to define a strategic vision for the southern provinces. As with any unscientific sample, I may not have captured a complete cross-section of Moroccan perspectives, but that didn’t diminish the interesting responses I encountered. Two key themes are intertwined in the proposed vision: regionalization, that is, devolving power from the central government to locally elected officials, and citizen participation, which leads to greater accountability in that...