Thinking strategically: Libya
By James Rogers and Luis Simón
US sees Gaddafi going, going… nowhere
President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that Col Muammar Gaddafi should go, now his top adviser on intelligence has said the Libyan ruler will probably win his battle to stay in power.
While the Americans aren’t going as far as the French and recognising the Libyan rebel leadership, they have broken off relations with the embassy in Washington and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet Libyan opposition leaders next week.
Who will take the lead on Libya?
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made it very clear that the US is not going to lead the call for a no-fly zone over Libya, and if it is going to happen, it must go through the United Nations.
Postmodern Islam and the Arab revolts , Arshin Adib-Moghaddam
2011-03-11 Who’s running Egypt?
?The exceptional circumstances and putting the Constitution on hold are no grounds for dictatorship rule or and tyranny,? said Khaled Ali, head of The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) in a statement yesterday. On Thursday, 10 March 2011 ECESR filed a lawsuit against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on behalf of named plaintiff, journalist Rasha Azeb and others. The lawsuit seeks to put an end to the trial of civilians by military courts. Azeb, who writes for al-Fagr newspaper, was one of six journalist assaulted in Tahrir Square and then taken before a military court.
MAIN FOCUS: Uncertainty about intervention in Libya | 10/03/2011
While Gaddafi’s regime continues to attack cities and oil facilities with planes, tanks and heavy artillery, the EU and Nato will begin to discuss sanctions against the dictator today. Military intervention would be a war for a just cause, some commentators say, while others reject any kind of intervention on the basis of past experience.
Gaddafigate
EU keen to build post-Gaddafi Libya
from EUobserver.com – Headline News
US and EU call for Gaddafi to go
The British should heed Free Libya?s call for a no fly zone, Rupert Read
Intervention in Libya? A case of shooting from the hip, slowly, Dan Smith
This piece is paired in opposition with an article by Rupert Read, in which he argues that the British have a duty to back a no-fly zone over Libya.
Libya: Group Occupies London Mansion Owned by Gaddafi’s Son
Written by John Liebhardt
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
A London-based group is now occupying a house it says is owned by Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi, the 38-year-old second son of Muammar al Gaddafi.
Libya: Debating the No-Fly Zone (Video)
Written by John Liebhardt
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
Tweeps, bloggers and netizens are continuing their debate the purpose and effectiveness of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya to protect protesters and civilians from air attack.
The Volunteers Behind the Libya Crisis Map: A True Story
from iRevolution by Patrick Meier
Morning Brief: Qaddafi forces go on the offensive
from FP Passport by Joshua Keating
Al Jazeera Launches Twitter Dashboard To Track Uprisings in Egypt, Yemen, Libya & Bahrain
from Mashable! by Sarah Kessler
Henry Porter’s reflections on the striking idealism and values of the new generation protesters in Tunisia and Egypt
His comments are in synch with the piece that Emile Nakhleh and I published a few days ago in the Globe, not least the emphasis on dignity and respect.
Promise and peril: women and the ?Arab spring?, Deniz Kandiyoti
“Who says women shouldn?t go to protests because they will be beaten?” Asmaa Mahfouz, 26, member of April 6 Youth movement
America and the Arab revolts: faces of power, Godfrey Hodgson
The momentous protests in the Arab region, and especially Libya, present the Barack Obama administration with a serious foreign-policy test. The conflict in this part of north Africa is the first major new overseas challenge since the president took office in January 2009. The way he handles it is then bound to have important consequences, for Obama?s political future and the US?s geopolitical position alike.
France, Europe, and the Arab maelstrom, Patrice de Beer
The democratic maelstrom engulfing the Arab countries in the first months of 2011 has revealed to the world and the European Union alike the bankruptcy of Europe?s strategy towards the region. The continent?s political leadership shares with the United States an overriding obsession with the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, embodied variously by Osama bin Laden and by the prospect of mass immigration from the southern Mediterranean.
The global democratic revolution: a new stage, Martin Shaw
The epic events across the Arab world in the first months of 2011, diverse and many-sided as they are, can be understood as a single episode: the latest phase in the worldwide democratic revolution which has been remaking the world since the 1980s.
Israel and the Arab awakening, Thomas O’Dwyer
Guy Rolnik, the editor of Israel’s leading economic newspaper The Marker, recently wrote a scathing condemnation of the nation?s complacency over the wave of revolution sweeping through Arab countries. Under the headline – ?State of a nation, rolling in slime? – was a catalogue of incidents of sleaze, corruption, criminality and abuse of public trust among Israel’s political and economic leaders.
Arab insurgencies, women in transition , Rada Ivekovic
The events of 2011 show how much democracy is wanted and needed by the people of the Arab world. The Tunisian and Egyptian dictators have already fallen, the Libyan one is shaking, and others too will surely follow in their train. In all cases it may be a long way to democracy, both in the formal sphere of politics and representation and in the new social spaces that are emerging.
Libya: a hard road ahead , Alison Pargeter
The complex military and political situation in Libya remains unresolved three weeks after the first protests erupted in the eastern city of Benghazi in mid-February 2011. The popular revolution continues to defend the territory won, while resisting efforts by Colonel Gaddafi?s forces to push it back. The regime?s efforts to regain control of the cities of Misrata and Zawiya, east and west of the capital, are ongoing; while Gaddafi loyalists are clinging to power in Tripoli itself.
‘Someone in Libya is still watching YouTube’
from FP Passport by Joshua Keating
Libya: the prospect of war, Paul Rogers
Book Will Write the History of Egypt?s Revolution in Tweets
from Mashable! by Sarah Kessler
Egypt: the two faces of liberation, Zainab Magdy
The ancient Egyptian goddess, Hathor, is the goddess of love, beauty, wine, song and dance. Hathor, who is depicted as a cow, had another face, that of the goddess of war and healing: the lioness Sekhmet. On the 25th of January, a coin was tossed to reveal the fate of Egypt and it fell showing the face of the lioness who was raging with anger.
MAIN FOCUS: The dangers of intervention in Libya | 07/03/2011
Fighting continues in Libya, with Gaddafi’s troops using tanks, fighter jets and helicopters against the rebels. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an end to the attacks and sent a fact-finding mission to Tripoli, as has the EU. The press discusses the possibility of military intervention and its drawbacks.
Evidence and limits of the ?demonstration effect? in the Middle East
By William A. Rugh, Guest Contributor
(Ambassador William A Rugh is a retired career US Foreign Service Officer with extensive Middle East experience.)
Recent developments in the Arab world have shown signs that the so-called ?demonstration effect? has been working. That is, Egyptians watching the uprising in Tunisia against President Ben Ali on al Jazeera Television were inspired to copy it and demonstrate against their own long-serving president, Husni Mubarak. Public protests had taken place in Egypt many times before but they had not been sustained and they had not led to regime change.
Libya: That’s Not Fighting, It’s Fireworks and other #DesperateGaddafiLies
Written by John Liebhardt
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
To those outside Libya dictator Colonel Muammar Al Gaddafi has always been known for eccentricities, blustering actions and remarks. As the uprising against his four decades in power comes closer to toppling his rule, Gaddafi’s actions has become more unstable and the number of his wild assertions has increased.
Why is Turkey hedging in Libya?
Libya: Zenga Zenga Meme Goes Viral
from Global Voices Online by Hisham
Saudi Arabia: What Saudis Demand
Written by Haifa Alrasheed
As protests engulf the region, Saudis too are making their voices heard. A petition addressed to King Abdulla is being circulated, with demands aimed at wide ranging political reforms.
Libya: The Freedom Flag Flies Over Misurata (Videos)
Written by John Liebhardt
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
Using air power and ground forces, forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Al Gaddafi attempted to regain lost cities in the central part of Libya on Sunday, March 6.
Egypt: Storming State Security
Written by ???? ??????? · Translated by Mohamed ElGohary · View original post [ar]
It wasn’t long after the dismissal of former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Safik that some Egyptians attacked the headquarters of the infamous State Security (Amn El-Dawla in Arabic) in several cities like Alexandria, Ismailia and others on March 4. Soon, protesters moved on to the apparatus’ main headquarters in Nasr City in Cairo on March 5. It was noticed that many State Security officers were burning and destroying a lot of documents and files to remove any traces of Human Rights abuses they conducted in Egypt over the past few decades.
Jordan: #HashtagDebates and Reforms
from Global Voices Online by Nadine Toukan
France breaks ranks on Libya, dwarfs EU’s Ashton
from EurActiv.com
EU summit: Sarko cites Gaddafi chemical threat
As he entered today?s EU summit, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, made his first public comments about his unexpected plan for for ?defensive? air-strikes against forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, saying they should be used in the event Gaddafi uses chemical weapons or unleashes airpower against unarmed demonstrators.
MAIN FOCUS: Sarkozy challenges Gaddafi | 11/03/2011
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has recognised the rebel National Transitional Council as Libya’s official representative body and wants to present his EU partners with plans for airborne attacks against the Gaddafi regime at today’s EU summit. The press condemns this unilateral move as detrimental to all concerned.
E.U. no longer recognizes Gaddafi as Libya’s leader but resists bolder steps
European governments declared that Moammar Gaddafi must step down immediately, but they stopped short of formally recognizing the Libyan rebel movement or endorsing military action.
Klaus on the summit
Speaking about splits, here’s a pretty frank and thought-provoking note from Czech President Václav Klaus, regarding today’s EU summit on Libya:
Lowest common denominator
EU leaders – still visibly split – have just agreed on a trade-marked “least common denominator” statement on Libya, following today’s summit in Brussels. Speaking at the end of the summit, David Cameron said that the EU’s 27 leaders were “united, categorical and crystal-clear” that Gaddafi had to go – which is a welcome statement (Gaddafi is a maniac after all) but not much different to what the EU leaders who matter had already called for.
EU common position on Libya blown apart
by Open Europe blog team
EU fear of north African migrants ‘overblown’
from EUobserver.com – Headline News
Yemen: Protesters Vulnerable to Violent Attacks
Written by Afef Abrougui
Protests demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh continue for a successive fourth week in Yemen. Protesters are not showing any sign of backing down and the Yemeni President is still immune to the idea of leaving office before presidential elections in 2013.
Are Sub-Saharan Mercenaries Fighting for Gaddafi?
Written by Abdoulaye Bah · Translated by Rhita Boufelliga · View original post [fr]
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011.
From the very first days of the 2011 Libyan uprising, there has been talk of foreign mercenaries, both from Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, within long-standing leader Colonel Gaddafi’s commando units.
Al Jazeera’s Twitter Dashboard shows who’s tweeting about what in the Middle East
Al Jazeera has created a Twitter Dashboard to illustrate what is being tweeted about in the Middle East, and about where. The Qatar-based news organisation has attracted international attention for its coverage of the Middle East protests and revolutions, during which it had the advantage of being already well-installed in the region.
No-Fly Zone? No.
The Forgotten Palestinian Refugees of Libya
from Global Voices Online by Imane Eddbali
Arab World: How Much Does Internet Access Matter?
Written by Jillian C. York
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011, Egypt Revolution 2011 and Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Amidst the ongoing debate of the role of social media in revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa lies another question: To what degree does Internet access matter in determining the role of the Internet and social media in these revolts? In Egypt and Tunisia, many attribute an important role to online tools while others debate their worth; most observers fall somewhere in the middle, recognizing the value of the Internet but remaining realistic about its limitations.
Libyan Roulette
I have a piece up on the Eurasianet website looking at the dilemma Turkey is facing in formulating its approach to the crisis in Libya, which has found Ankara, as one analyst put it, ?torn between a kind of idealistic narrative of Turkish foreign policy and a more mercantilist realpolitik
The Moroccan exception, and a king’s speech, Valentina Bartolucci
The Arab revolt and the colour revolutions, Vicken Cheterian
Egypt?s new politics: the democratic test, Mansoor Mirza
Mubarak did not get the message
In 1993 Anthropologist Fadwa El Guindi wrote a provocative call for President Mubarak of Egupt to resign. This was almost two decades before events forced him out of office. I post the 1993 commentary by El Guindi here, courtesy of the author.
Mubarak Should Call an Election and Step Aside
Egypt: The country is a wreck; before radicals force a bloody change, he should allow open elections for a successor.
Egypt: Leaked Documents Reveal Dirty Games of Former Regime
from Global Voices Online by Afef Abrougui
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