Democratic Façades and Political Tension in the UAE
Larissa Alles* | 30 Jan 2012
On November 28, 2011, the President of the UAE pardoned five Emirati bloggers, who had received 2-3 year prison sentences for calling for the boycott of the UAE’s September 24, 2011 elections. Like many Emiratis, these activists saw the elections as a sham, intended to give a meaningless veneer of …
Tahrir One Year Later in Photos
Semira Nikou | 28 Jan 2012
On January 25, 2012, Egypt marked the one year anniversary of the uprisings that forever altered that country’s course. Semira Nikou, a former USIP Iran researcher, was in Cairo on that day and brings us these candid photos of the spirit and people that flooded Tahrir Square to mark …
In Egypt, The Devil You Know Is the One to Fear
Thalia Beaty* | 27 Jan 2012
Much attention has been given to the success of “Islamist parties” in Egypt’s recently completed parliamentary elections. The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FPJ) achieved overwhelming success garnering 45 percent of the vote, while the Salafist parties came away with a combined 25 percent of the vote. Together these …
The Iranian People, Sanctions, & the Growing Specter of War: a Q&A with Hooman Majd*
| 25 Jan 2012
Q: You spent the last year living in Iran, right when economic sanctions against the country reached new heights. How did you see the Iranian economy changing and responding to these sanctions over the last year? Hooman Majd (HM): Indeed, economic sanctions seemed to be increasing in severity almost by …
Free Parastoo and Marzieh – Iran’s Detained Journalists/Bloggers
Muftah Editors | 24 Jan 2012
This press release was issued on January 22, 2012 by “Free Parastoon and Marzieh,” a blog created by a group of Parastoo Dokouhaki and Marzieh Rasouli’s concerned friends to accumulate and archive what the world is saying about their arrest and continuing detention by Iranian authorities. For more information on the …
Fuel Subsidy Reform in Post-Revolutionary Yemen
Rafat Al-Akhali* | 23 Jan 2012
It is safe to say that the Transitional Government in Yemen, sworn into office in December 2011, faces daunting political and security challenges, not to mention economic and fiscal challenges that rarely make the headlines. Among these economic obstacles is the fiscal imbalance caused by subsidizing fuel products in …
Performing Protest Under Occupation: Iraq’s Tahrir Square
Nahrain Al-Mousawi* | 20 Jan 2012
Iraq’s recent re-entry into American public discourse was marked by the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country as well as hagiographies marking the death of the Iraq war’s foremost advocate, Christopher Hitchens. This renewed interest in Iraq serves as a reminder not only of the country’s displacement from public …
 
