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2013122Constitution

MENASource

Dec 2, 2013

Highlights from Egypt’s Draft Constitution (Part 1)

By Mai El-Sadany

In preparation for a popular referendum which will take place on Egypt’s newest Constitution within thirty days of formal approval, the fifty-member Constituent Assembly appointed by interim President Adly Mansour began to vote on the full text of its draft Constitution on November 30, 2013. The work of the Assembly, which began on September 8, […]

North Africa Political Reform

MENASource

Nov 27, 2013

Top News: Shura Council Protest Dispersed; Prosecutor Orders Arrest of Prominent Activists

By EgyptSource

A protest by the No Military Trials for Civilians group was forcibly dispersed by security forces thirty minutes after it began on Tuesday. Egypt’s prosecutors have, meanwhile, ordered the detention of twenty-four activists for four days. On Wednesday, Egypt’s prosecutor ordered the arrest of two prominent activists, Alaa Abdel Fattah and April 6 leader Ahmed Maher, who took part in the protest.

MENASource

Nov 27, 2013

Syria: Is a Diplomatic Solution Possible?

By Frederic C. Hof

The suffering of Syrians inside their tortured, broken country is unspeakable.  Even those not yet driven from their homes or banished by fear from their country of birth cannot escape the consequences of pure evil unleashed.  In recent days a young woman from the family that hosted me in Damascus as an exchange student eons […]

Syria

MENASource

Nov 27, 2013

The Sinai Question: Economy or Ideology?

By Ahmad Hosni

Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has witnessed a wave of militant attacks against army and government posts since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The rate and intensity of attacks, together with the fatalities, however, have increased since the military coup that ousted the country’s first elected president Mohamed Morsi on July 3. The military-led government […]

North Africa

MENASource

Nov 26, 2013

Pack and Eljarh on Localizing Power in Libya

By MENASource

On Friday November 15, Tripoli witnessed its bloodiest day since its liberation from  Muammar Qaddafi. In their article, Localizing Power in Libya, Cambridge academic Jason Pack and analyst Mohamed Eljarh argue that this current crisis allows the government an unprecedented opportunity to change course and to abandon its previously failed policies.

Libya

MENASource

Nov 26, 2013

Top News: Police Disperse Anti-Protest Law Demonstration in Cairo

By EgyptSource

Egyptian police fired teargas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters in Cairo on Tuesday after they defied a new law that restricts demonstrations.

MENASource

Nov 26, 2013

How the Gulf States Will and Won’t Respond to the Iran Agreement

By Richard LeBaron

Gulf states have cautiously greeted the interim nuclear agreement between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the EU and Iran. The Saudi statement on Monday treads lightly—”The government of the kingdom sees that if there was goodwill, this agreement could represent a preliminary step towards a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear program.” In […]

Iran Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Nov 26, 2013

Dealing Away the Middle East?

By Faysal Itani

In the abstract and in isolation, a US-Iranian nuclear deal is a welcome development. While it does not eliminate Iran’s nuclear program, it does complicate any future Iranian efforts to develop a robust nuclear military capability. It also shows that the United States and Iran, two sworn enemies, are capable of rationally pursuing their interests […]

Iran

MENASource

Nov 25, 2013

The Public Sphere: Between Displacing the Individual Citizen and Mobilizing Supportive Crowds

By Amr Hamzawy

Through the second half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty first, Egyptian citizens have begun peacefully injecting themselves into the public sphere, and its physical form, the “street” (this space also exists in an intangible form through public discussion, media outlets and some activities of civil society and political life). […]

North Africa

MENASource

Nov 25, 2013

Top News: Egypt’s Interim President Issues Protest Law

By EgyptSource

Egyptian Interim President Adly Mansour approved on Sunday a controversial law regulating protests, two weeks after the cabinet submitted it for his review, state TV reported.