Islam, Obama and the Empty Quarter - Why democracy activists miss George W. Bush
Monday, 17 May 2010 19:22
By SAAD EDDIN IBRAHIM
Published in the Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2010
The term Empty Quarter refers to a desolate stretch of land in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. More recently it is aptly used as a metaphor to refer to the quarter of the Muslim world that is still undemocratic. Other Muslim majority countries, such as Indonesia (250 million people), Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria (over 100 million each), and Turkey (80 million) have been steadily democratizing. Most Arab countries, on the other hand, are lagging behind. They make up one fourth of the Muslim world (300 million out of 1.2 billion).
Webcast of Dr. Saad's interview on CNN with Christiane Amanpour.
The President and the Arab Status Quo
Saturday, 31 October 2009 00:25
It's time for Obama to turn his back on tyrants. Republished in The Wall Street Journal, 17 August 09 By SAAD EDDIN IBRAHIM
As a candidate, Barack Obama pledged not to support dictators friendly to the United States. Yet despite this promise, President Obama welcomes Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the White House this week.
This unusual goodwill—the president also visited Mr. Mubarak in Cairo on June 4—is sending mixed messages to all those Americans who worked to elect Mr. Obama as a champion of change. And it is disappointing to those in Egypt, Africa and the Arab world who hailed his historic victory as the first African-American president.
Towards the "militarization" of NGOs: A "fascist" law to strangle civil society
Tuesday, 30 March 2010 10:37
The Egyptian NGO campaign for the Freedom to Associate
Press release by 62 NGOs - Cairo: 22/3/2010
The undersigned non-governmental organizations wish to express their extreme dismay at recent news that the Ministry of Social Solidarity has completed a draft for a new NGO law. According to the latest leaked copy, the bill is more restrictive and draconian than repressive bill already in place. It is expected to pass into law with the approval of the government parliamentary majority in the coming month.
It seems that the haste to pass the bill is attributable to a desire to undermine civil society efforts to monitor the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Following the abolition of judicial supervision of elections in the last round of constitutional amendments and the government’s refusal to allow international monitors, this step will facilitate further dishonest elections conducted without any meaningful oversight. Some articles of the new bill aim to limit the activities of human rights organizations or shut them down completely by criminalizing all forms of unregistered civic organization.
