News Digest on Nonviolent Conflict 18.02.2011 16:33

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> What is Nonviolent Conflict? # 216 February 15, 2011 FEATURED ARTICLES EVENTS IN EGYPT

Three key moments likely drove 15 February 2011: Egypt's military Anti-government protests spread to Iran, Bahrain and Yemen Iran: Opposition leaders should By: Jonathan S. Landay, Warren P. Strobel and Shashank Bengali, be tried and executed, hardline McClatchy Newspapers, February 15, 2011 lawmakers say "Tens of thousands of protesters faced baton-wielding security forces Monday in Bahrain, Yemen and Iran in what experts say may be Algerian protesters clash with shaping up as a pro-democracy wave ignited by the revolts that police as Egypt fervour spreads drove Egypt's and Tunisia's aging autocratic rulers from power. Read full article... CAMPAIGNS AND ACTIONS IN THE NEWS Egyptian army hijacking revolution, activists fear By: Jack Shenker, The Guardian, February 15, 2011 Poetry in the Egyptian uprising Egypt's revolution is in danger of being hijacked by the army, key political activists have warned, as concrete details of the country's Sudanese women hold vigil for democratic transition period were revealed for the first time. detained protesters Read full article...

Unblocking Syria's social media 14 February 2011:

Egypt crisis: Protesters leave Tahrir Square REGIONS By: BBC News, February 14, 2011 Events in Egypt Egyptian security forces are removing the final protesters from Cairo's Tahrir Square after the new military rulers vowed to dissolve South Asia parliament and suspend the constitution. Read full article... Southeast Asia

East Asia What is the Egyptian military's new role? By: Emad Shahin, NY Times, February 14, 2011 Africa With Mubarak's departure, will the army take power or push for North America democratic change? The situation today is different. In 1952, it was the military that toppled the monarchical regime, but this time it was Central America/Caribbean the people who brought Mr. Mubarak down and it is the people who will keep the pressure on to ensure that a civilian democratic system South America is in place. Europe Read full article...

Middle East/North Africa WikiLeaks cables: Egyptian military head is 'old and resistant to change' By: Julian Borger and James Ball, The Guardian, Febraury 14, 2011 ARTICLES OF INTEREST Nothing Egypt's military council has done in its past suggests it has the capacity or inclination to introduce speedy and radical change. Guaranteed its $1.3bn (£812m) annual grant from the US - a

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ICNC WEBSITE dividend from the Camp David peace accord with Israel - it has gained the reputation as a hidebound institution with little appetite DIGEST ARCHIVES for reform. Read full article... Contribute items to the News Digest ! Egypt: Police protest for rights By: Heba Fahmy, Daily News Egypt, February 14, 2011 Police officers protested in Cairo on Sunday asking for better working SUBSCRIBE TO NEWS conditions, a day after officers marched in Ismailia in solidarity with DIGEST the revolution, insisting they had been ordered against their will to shoot at protesters. More than 1,000 low-ranking policemen (with no prospects of promotion to officer status) marched on their employer, the interior ministry, to demand pay raises, better health care, the return of the officers who were unjustly discharged, honoring the officers who died during the revolution and for their former boss. Read full article...

Egypt protests continue in the factories By: Hossam el-Hamalawy, The Guardian, February 14, 2011 Since Hosni Mubarak fled from Cairo, and even before then, some middle-class activists have been urging Egyptians, in the name of patriotism, to suspend their protests and return to work, singing some of the most ridiculous lullabies: "Let's build a new Egypt", "Let's work harder than ever before". They clearly do not know that Egyptians are already among the hardest working people in the world. Read full article...

13 February 2011:

Egypt: Obama's strategy was to pressure Mubarak without intruding By: Peter Nicholas, LA Times, February 13, 2011 The White House's handling of that moment hewed to a strategy developed after the crisis erupted Jan. 25. Determined to be on "the right side of history" without intruding in Egypt's political affairs, Obama wanted to put pressure on the dictator, squeezing Mubarak to hand over power and begin the transition to a more democratic country. Read full article...

Egypt's army dissolves parliament By: Al Jazeera, February 13, 2011 Egypt's military has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, two days after Hosni Mubarak, the long-serving president, stepped down in the wake of a popular uprising. The country's Supreme Council of Armed Forces announced on Sunday that it would remain in charge of the country for six months until a new government is formed. Read full article...

Egypt insider: Mubarak's fall was years in the making By: Hannah Allam, McClatchy Newspapers, February 13, 2011 Mohammed Abdellah, 64, one of the last living founders of the former president's National Democratic Party said, he'd watched with

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sadness as Mubarak - whom he first knew as an eager, details- oriented party leader - was transformed into a cocooned authoritarian whose reliance on a tiny group of self-serving advisers led to a deeply divided NDP and, ultimately, the regime's collapse. Read full article...

Twitter feed evolves into a news wire about Egypt By: Brian Stelter, NY Times, February 13, 2011 While people debated whether Web sites like Twitter were important in organizing protests in Tunisia and Egypt, Andy Carvin was organizing information about the protests in an innovative way. By seeking out the voices of sources in Egypt and sharing them almost in real time on a social networking site, he "provided a hint of what news can look like in an increasingly networked media environment." Read full article...

Egypt's path after uprising does not have to follow Iran's By: Anthony Shadid, NY Times, February 13, 2011 There is a fear in the West, one rarely echoed here, that Egypt's revolution could go the way of Iran's, when radical Islamists ultimately commandeered a movement that began with a far broader base. But the two are very different countries. In Egypt, the uprising offers the possibility of an accommodation with political Islam rare in the Arab world - that without the repression that accompanied Mr. Mubarak's rule, Islam could present itself in a more moderate guise. Read full article...

From 9/11 to 2/11 By: Roger Cohen, NY Times, February 13, 2011 Perhaps the most effective antidote to 9/11 will prove to be 2/11, the day Hosni Mubarak conceded the game was up with his 30-year-old dictatorship and left town under military escort for the beach. We've tried invasions of Muslim lands. We've tried imposing new systems of government on them. We've tried wars on terror. We've tried spending billions of dollars. What we haven't tried is tackling what's been rotten in the Arab world by helping a homegrown, bottom-up movement for change turn a U.S.-backed police state into a stable democracy. Read full article...

Egyptian army corrals protesters to reopen Tahrir By: Marwa Awad and Dina Zayed, Mail And Guardian, February 13, 2011 Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers shoved pro-democracy protesters aside to force a path for traffic to start flowing through central Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday for the first time in more than two weeks. Protesters chanted "peacefully, peacefully" as the soldiers and military police in red berets moved in to disperse them. Scuffles broke out and some soldiers lashed out with sticks. Read full article...

12 February 2011:

A look back at the amazing citizen video footage from Egypt By: Good News, February 12, 2011

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Using everything from cell phone cameras to professional recording equipment, Egypt's citizens made sure their recent revolution wasn't just televised, but broadcast around the entire world. Here, an inspiring and sometimes frightening look at the past three weeks' events as Egypt saw them unfold. Above, protesters sprint from police on the first day of demonstrations, January 25. Read full article...

Military offers assurances to Egypt and neighbors By: Kareem Fahim, NY Times, February 12, 2011 As a new era dawned in Egypt on Saturday, the army leadership sought to reassure Egyptians and the world that it would shepherd a transition to civilian rule and honor international commitments like the peace treaty with Israel. In Tahrir, or Liberation, Square, some members of the broad movement that toppled Mr. Mubarak vowed to continue their protests, saying that all their demands had not yet been met. Read full article...

11 February 2011:

Three key moments likely drove Egypt's military By: Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers, February 11, 2011 Three key developments likely led the Egyptian military to abandon its support for President Hosni Mubarak after 18 days of political crisis, Obama administration officials, U.S. military officers and Mideast experts agreed Friday, even as they said they were in the dark about the exact chain of events. Read full article...

Egypt: Can an army famous for abuse really install democracy? By: Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Newspapers, February 11, 2011 Behind the scenes, however, soldiers and military police are said to be carrying out the same kinds of arbitrary arrests and torture of which Egyptian police have long been accused. Prisoners and human rights groups say that the army - deployed on Egyptian streets for the first time in 25 years after police vanished following clashes with protesters Jan. 28 - is continuing a tradition of government- sanctioned violence that was one of the key sparks of the uprising. Read full article...

Obama threaded the needle on Egypt By: Steven Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers, February 11, 2011 He often appeared one step behind events. He changed his message. He appeared to be flying blind at times. And he still has a long way to go before knowing how Egypt will turn out. But President Barack Obama is getting good marks from experts for his response to the first major foreign crisis of his presidency, the popular uprising in Egypt that led to President Hosni Mubarak's decision to step down and leave Cairo Friday. Read full article...

Egypt: Mubarak leaves at last By: Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy Magazine, February 11, 2011 It's frankly hard to believe today's news that Hosni Mubarak has

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finally stepped down as President of Egypt without a wave of bloodshed. There will be plenty of time for post-mortems, and there will be an enormous amount of hard work to come to ensure that this actually becomes a transition to democracy. But for today, it's okay to simply celebrate -- to stand in awe of the Egyptian people and their ability to topple a seemingly impenetrable dictator through massive, peaceful protests. Read full article...

Remarks by the President on Egypt By: Office of the Press Secretary, White House, Washington, D.C., February 11, 2011 The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt. We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary -- and asked for -- to pursue a credible transition to a democracy. I'm also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity -- jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight. Read full article...

Postcard from a free Egypt By: Thomas L. Friedman, NY Times, February 11, 2011 This was a total do-it-yourself revolution. This means that anyone in the neighborhood can copy it by dialing 1-800-Tahrir Square. here will always be Mecca in Saudi Arabia, where Muslims will make the pilgrimage to be closer to God. And there will be Tahrir Square, where people will come to touch freedom. For that to happen, though, Egypt will have to take this freedom it just earned and run with it - to show that it really can improve the lives of an entire nation. Read full article...

Poetry in the Egyptian uprising By: Journal of Ordinary Thought, February 11, 2011 Last week we looked back at the role of song in the Freedom Rides fifty years ago. And at this very moment, Egyptian citizens participating in the anti-government uprising are chanting couplets of poetry as they protest in the streets and squares all over the country. As Elliott Colla on Jadaliyya said in his piece "The Poetry of Revolt." Read full article...

Egypt: Where will Mubarak go? By: Stephen Kinzer, The Daily Beast, February 11, 2011 The dictator is riding out his resignation in his seaside retreat at Sharm el-Sheikh, but Egyptians won't let him stay long. From Saudi Arabia to Britain to even Israel, Stephen Kinzer weighs Mubarak's options for exile. Plus, full coverage of the Egypt revolution. Read full article...

They died to see Egypt soar: A Cairo artist's portraits of the Revolution's martyred activists By: Ben Davis, Art Info, February 11, 2011 In the last days, Ganzeer has turned to creating a series of portraits of the "martyrs" of the Egyptian uprising - striking red, yellow, and black works highlighting the faces of some of the fallen. His moving

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description of these portraits is worth quoting in full, and is all the more significant given today's earth-shaking events. Read full article...

10 February 2011:

Anatomy of a revolution: Meet the young Egyptian activists who started it all By: Adam Clark Estes, Salon.com, February 10, 2011 So who were the people who lit the fuse in hopes to spark a revolution? The movement -- some refer to it as #Jan25 indicating the watershed moment in the streets of Egypt -- has captivated the world and reminded Middle East leaders of an impassioned crowd's explosive power. The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia sparked the initial protests, but the scale of activism suggests the presence of some kindling, some existing network of activists that mobilized quickly and effectively. But who was in charge? Who were the organizers on the ground, the administrators of the Facebook pages, the would-be revolutionaries? Who started it all? Read full article... View slideshow...

Der Spiegel: El-Baradei on democracy's chances in Egypt 'we could experience an Arab spring' By: CFR, February 6, 2011 In a Der Spiegel interview, Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei explains why President Hosni Mubarak should leave Egypt as soon as possible, how Israel should view the popular revolts across the Arab world and how he could go from being an "agent of change" to Egypt's next president. Read full article...

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SOUTH ASIA

Pakistani writers in an age of extremism By: Nosheen Abbas, BBC News, February 13, 2011 When journalists and political activists prominently feature in a literary festival, you know that freedom of speech is a major issue. "We're like the villain of a horror film," said Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid about the international view of Pakistan. Read full article...

India: Assault and detention of peaceful demonstrators in Mumbai By: Sanhati, February 11, 2011 The Committee for the Release of Binayak Sen, Mumbai unequivocally condemns the brutal and undemocratic police action against students and human rights activists holding a peaceful demonstration at Churchgate, and sitting in a collective at The Oval Maidan, Churchgate. Read full article...

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AFRICA

Sudanese women hold vigil for detained protesters By: Reuters, February 13, 2011 Women held a vigil outside Sudan's security service headquarters in Khartoum, calling for the release of men arrested during a series of protests inspired by Egypt's uprising. Read full article...

One thousand eight hundred members march for love in Bulawayo By: Sokwanele, February 12, 2011 At 10am, five simultaneous protests began in different locations in downtown Bulawayo. One thousand eight hundred women and men, members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) turned out for the ninth edition of the Valentines Day protests, the biggest protest since WOZA these protests began in 2003. Read full article...

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NORTH AMERICA

US: Clinton says nations suppress internet at own risk By: Matthew Lee, Huffington Post, February 15, 2011 The United States stands with cyber dissidents and democracy activists from the Middle East to China and beyond, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday. She pledged to expand the Obama administration's efforts to foil Internet repression in autocratic states. Read full article...

US: Clinton expresses US support for Iran protesters By: BBC News, February 15, 2011 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed her firm support for the thousands of opposition supporters who protested in Iran's capital on Monday. Mrs Clinton said they deserved to have "the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt" and that Iran had to "open up" its political system. Read full article...

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CENTRAL AMERICA/CARIBBEAN

Cuban dissidents freed against will By: Al Jazeera, February 13, 2011 Two Cuban political prisoners have been released from prison, despite the fact that both men said they wanted to remain in jail until other opposition leaders were freed and other demands met. Read full article...

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Internet critic is identified in Cuba By: Juan Tamayo, Cuba Study Group, February 8, 2011 The lecturer in a Cuban government video on the dangers of the Internet has been identified - on the Internet - as a 38-year-old counter-intelligence official who follows blogger Yoani Sánchez on Twitter. Eduardo Fontes Suárez's Facebook page is now down. Read full article...

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SOUTH AMERICA

Hunger strikers seek release of political prisoners in Venezuela By: El Universal, February 7, 2011 Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) José Miguel Insulza urged the young protesters who have been in a hunger strike for 10 days outside the headquarters of the OAS office in Caracas to put down the protest. Read full article...

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EUROPE

UK: Revealed - how energy firms spy on environmental activists By: Rob Evans and Paul Lewis, The Guardian, February 14, 2011 Three large energy companies have been carrying out covert intelligence-gathering operations on environmental activists, the Guardian can reveal. The energy giant E.ON, Britain's second-biggest coal producer Scottish Resources Group and Scottish Power, one of the UK's largest electricity-generators, have been paying for the services of a private security firm that has been secretly monitoring activists. Read full article...

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MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA

Iran: Opposition leaders should be tried and executed, hardline lawmakers say By: Nasser Karimi, Huffington Post, February 15, 2011 Hardline Iranian lawmakers called on Tuesday for the country's opposition leaders to face trial and be put to death, a day after clashes between opposition protesters and security forces left one person dead and dozens injured. Read full article...

The latest from Iran By: Scott Lucas, Enduring America, Febraury 14, 2011 The latest updates from Scott Lucas regarding the ongoing protests in

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Iran. Read full article...

Iran live blog By: Muhammad Sahimi, Josh Shahryar, Dan Geist, PBS, February 14, 2011 The latest updates from Tehran Bureau Staff and Correspondents regarding the ongoing protests in Iran. Read full article...

Iran: Videos show heavy security deployment in Tehran on day of protests By: Alexandra Sandels, LA Times, February 14, 2011 Fresh video footage uploaded to YouTube shows a heavy security deployment in Tehran amid reports that throngs of political opposition supporters have taken to the streets of the Iranian capital for a protest rally. Read full article...

Egypt protest spreads across Middle East By: Ian Black, The Guardian, February 14, 2011 Egypt's uprising has sent powerful shockwaves across the Middle East , with two deaths reported in street clashes in Iran and Bahrain and violent demonstrations in Yemen, as further protests and strikes erupted across Egypt. Read full article...

Algeria: Anti-government protests broken up in Algiers By: POMED, February 14, 2011 Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Algiers and Oran this weekend to participate in planned demonstrations against the government. Small groups of demonstrators angry at President Abdelaziz Bouteflika gathered in May 1 Square in the center of Algiers shouting "Bouteflika out!" and waving front pages of newspapers reporting Friday's overthrow of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. Read full article...

Ordinary Algerians losing confidence in Bouteflika regime By: WL Central, February 13, 2011 Thousands of demonstrators came out to demonstrate against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's regime in Algeria on February 12. Security forces arrested hundreds of protesters, including human rights activists and syndicate members of the General Union of Algerian Workers. The Internet was also shut down. Read full article...

Algerian protesters clash with police as Egypt fervour spreads By: Martin Chulov, The Guardian, February 13, 2011 Algerian police have beaten back around 2,000 demonstrators who tried to rally in central Algiers as aftershocks from the Egyptian revolution rumbled throughout the Middle East. Demonstrations in Algiers quickly turned to running clashes with police who had been ordered by the government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to enforce a protests ban. Read full article...

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Iran exclusive: An interview with Mehdi Karroubi "the movement is alive" By: Scott Lucas, Enduring America, February 13, 2011 An EA exclusive: English translation by Potkin Azarmehr of Masih Alinejad's interview with Mehdi Karroubi. The interview took place amidst the request by Mir Hossein Moussavi and Karroubi for a permit for a rally on 14 February in solidarity with the movements in Egypt and Tunisia, the arrest of Karroubi's advisor Taghi Rahmani, and intimidation of Karroubi's associates. Security agents appeared in front of Karroubi's house on Thursday to enforce a house arrest, allowing only Karroubi's wife to enter the residence. Alinejad's interview was cut short by the restrictions. Read full article...

Yemeni youth square off with forces By: J. David Goodman, NY Times, February 13, 2011 Young protesters in Yemen squared off against security forces on Sunday, and some marched on the presidential palace here, witnesses said, as a third day of demonstrations sought to emulate the revolution in Egypt. Read full article...

Yemen police use tasers on protesters, says rights group By: GlobalPost, February 13, 2011 Yemeni security forces used electric tasers and batons Sunday to attack young protesters who had gathered for a third day in anti-government demonstrators, claimed a prominent rights group. "Without provocation, government security forces brutally beat and tasered peaceful demonstrators on the streets of Sanaa," according to Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. Read full article...

Could Bahrain be next? By: Omar Al-Shehabi, The Guardian, February 13, 2011 Cyber activists in Bahrain have declared Valentine's Day a "day of wrath" in the kingdom. It is also the 10th anniversary of a referendum in which Bahrainis approved a national charter promising a new political era after decades of political unrest. Read full article...

Tunisians turn to everyday matters By: Thomas Fuller, NY Times, February 13, 2011 Bakers have threatened to stop making baguettes unless their salaries are increased. Lawyers demanding judicial independence protested outside the Justice Ministry. Unemployed miners slept in the halls of the headquarters of a phosphate mining company, demanding more jobs. Read full article...

Iran hinders web searches before planned rally, sources say By: Reza Sayah, Iran Focus, October 12, 2011 Iranian authorities have blocked the word "Bahman" -- the 11th month of the Persian calendar -- from Internet searches within the

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country, according to an opposition website. The measure appears to be an effort by Iranian authorities to obstruct access to several websites that are promoting a rally on Monday -- the 25th day of Bahman -- proposed by Iranian opposition leaders in support of the uprising in Egypt, Saham News reported Saturday. Read full article...

Unblocking Syria's social media By: Jillian York, Al Jazeera, February 12, 2011 Tech-savvy Syrian Internet users utilize VPN services, web-based proxies and other tools to circumvent the blocks, though the export of those tools from the United States is also prohibited without a license from Treasury and Commerce departments, due to long-standing sanctions. Read full article...

Yesterday Egypt, today Algeria By: Karima Bennoune, The Guardian, February 12, 2011 There were small echoes of Egypt. Thousands of police in full riot gear painted the square blue in their uniforms, attempting to occupy the space and prevent the demonstration, yet the protestors remained, for hours risking arrest and beatings, shouting slogans and singing effervescently. A large group of young men, with the obvious cooperation of the police, entered the scene violently, chanting in favor of President Bouteflika (in power since 1999) and attempting to provoke fights with the protestors. Read full article...

Algeria: Government urged to allow peaceful protests By: Amnesty International, February 11, 2011 Amnesty International is urging the Algerian authorities not to crack down on planned nationwide anti-government protests tomorrow, amid reports demonstrations in the capital, Algiers, have been banned. Read full article...

How Iran's political battle is fought in cyberspace By: Jon Leyne, BBC News, February 11, 2011 They called it the "Twitter revolution". Iran's post-election protests showed the world the power of new media to organize and publicize opposition in a controlled society. On the anniversary of the Islamic revolution in 1979, once again Twitter, Facebook and other internet tools could be crucial in helping the opposition organize another major protest. Read full article...

Tunisia, Egypt, and Iran's Green Movement By: MobyLives, February 11, 2011 The groundwork for the protests in Egypt were laid in part by the Iran's Green Movement, and the great fear is that the result will end with a similarly violent crackdown by the repressive dictatorship. In Chicago last Friday, at a launch party for The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran's Future, co-editors Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi spoke about the connections between Egypt's current critical moment and Iran's ongoing political crisis.

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Read full article...

Visualizing the new Arab mind By: Kovas Boguta, February 11,2011 Experts say Egypt is the crystal ball in which the Arab world sees its future. Now that Mubarak has stepped down, I can share the work I've done making that metaphor tangible, and visualizing the pro-democracy movement in Egypt and across the Middle East. It is based on their Twitter activity, capturing the freedom of expression and association that is possible in that medium, and which is representative of a new collective consciousness taking form. Read full article...

Issue guide: Arab world protests By: CFR, February 11, 2011 The protests that led to the ouster of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in mid-January have sparked a wave of uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world. Most notable has been Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11 after thirty years in power. The following materials provide background and analysis on the wave of unrest sweeping through Egypt and the rest of the Middle East. Read full article...

In Tunisia, some say lives have changed radically By: Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, February 10, 2011 Tunisia was the first Arab country to throw off its autocratic ruler, inspiring protests in Egypt. While it may take months - and even years - for Tunisia to build a functioning democracy, many Tunisians felt the effects of freedom immediately. In just the past month, the lives of some have changed radically. Read full article...

Return of the spirit By: Mona Anis, Al-Ahram, February 10, 2011 Over the past two weeks, while friends of my daughter stationed in Tahrir Square kept coming to our flat to use the bathroom or to have a hot drink before they went back to the business of occupying the square, I couldn't stop thinking of 1919, Russel Pasha's ghost and the students of 1935, who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their country. Read full article...

Tunisia: Interview with Rachid Ghannouchi By: Nazanine Moshiri, Al Jazeera, February 3, 2011 Rachid Ghannouchi returned to his homeland on Sunday, after nearly 20 years in exile. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri sat down with the leader of Tunisia's al-Nahda - a pro-democracy Islamist party which remains illegal, even in post-Ben Ali Tunisia - to discuss his party's ambitions for the future. Read full article...

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ARTICLES OF INTEREST

The net worth of open networks By: Ramesh Srinivasan, Huffington Post, February 15, 2011 Let's stop being so confused about the Internet's role in revolutions. Technology works with human networks and amplifies human activities, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. But is an open Internet a human right? Politics, Ethics, and Constitutional ideals of free speech were the focus of Secretary Hillary Clinton's speech today, marking the first time a major political figure has presented a detailed analysis of the role of Internet freedom in global democracy. Read full article...

How Gandhi, MLK and Facebook inspired a revolution By: John Parisella, Macleans.ca, February 14, 2011 History buffs and proponents of nonviolent protest never fail to be inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King in their respective struggles against colonialism and prejudice. They mobilized and through peaceful means overthrew an intolerable status quo and brought revolution and change to their countries. In the past week, we have been witnesses to the events in Egypt that brought down the 31-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of protesters peacefully stood their ground for 18 days until the inevitable happened. Gandhi and King would have approved. Read full article...

Twitter activism By: Elie Levasseur, Scoopit, February 14, 2011 News, Data and & analysis on how Twitter serve social or political activism. Read full article...

Al Jazeera's social revolution (in realtime) By: Erick Schonfeld, Tech Crunch, February 13, 2011 Al Jazeera uses Chartbeat to track realtime visits to its websites, and they allowed Chartbeat to post the screenshots you see here to the Chartbeat blog. In addition to showing the raw number of realtime visitors, Chartbeat can also break them down by source. And here is where it sheds a light on the role of social media in spreading the word and driving people to its coverage of events. Read full article...

Activism vs. organizing: Reflections on Gramsci pt.2 By: Jonathan Smucker, The Activist Motivator, February 13, 2011 His language of volunteers vs. organized social blocs aligns with a similar distinction often made between activism and organizing. Anyone can become an activist overnight, if he or she so desires. All you need to do is to start taking action as an individual on an issue you care about. I'm not about to be as dismissive as Gramsci seems to be in this essay about the value of such an act. However, he makes a good point: organizing is about finding other people to take action with you. Read full article...

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Democracy in a polarized society By: Understanding Society, February 13, 2011 What are some of the institutional arrangements that can work to preserve a functioning democracy in a society with extensive inequalities of wealth and power? Read full article...

Stephen Wolfram: Can he topple Google? By: Alex Bellos, February 12, 2011 The British scientist Stephen Wolfram has a clear vision for the future. It was with this aspiration that Wolfram launched Wolfram|Alpha, a website that aims to be able to answer any factual question asked of it. Wolfram says he wanted to create an "insanely ambitious thing, like the science fiction computers of old". Currently, for example, when we want to know something on the web, our default action is to Google it, but this just searches for words rather than calculating answers, so leads you only to what has already been written, which may or may not be what you want to know. Read full article...

The ghost of revolutions past By: Nakolai Grozni, NY Times, February 12, 2011 The similarities between Egypt today and Bulgaria at the end of the cold war are numerous: Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down on Friday, held power for 30 years; Todor Zhivkov, the leader of the Communist Party, had reigned for 35 years. The people of both countries have been crushed by an oppressive regime and a puppet Parliament, by a dictator's private judiciary and a deaf state TV, by policemen, secret agents, apparatchiks and paid taletellers. Read full article...

The tweet is mightier than the sword By: Max Boot, Commentary Magazine, February 11, 2011 Egypt shows that there is a better way than setting off bombs if you want to change regimes. "People power" protests of the kind we have seen in recent weeks in Cairo and Alexandria have toppled far more rulers in recent decades than all the world's terrorists and guerrillas combined. Read full article...

Former Soviet countries and the 'Egypt effect' By: Eurasianet, February 11, 2011 There are several fundamental differences that preclude the possibility of the "Egypt effect" reaching FSU countries. That said, some key countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia are, for reasons quite separate from the Egyptian unrest, facing pressures that could strain their political and social stability. Read full article...

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The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict is pleased to circulate twice weekly this selective digest of world news related to present, past and potential nonviolent

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conflicts, including active civilian-based struggles against oppressive regimes, nonviolent resistance, political and social dissidence, and the use of nonviolent tactics in a variety of causes. We also include stories that help readers glimpse the larger context of a conflict and that reflect on past historical struggles.

If you have specific items that you would like us to include in the daily digest, please send them to us. If there is a news or information source that you believe we may not be accessing, for purposes of selecting items, please bring that to our attention.

Please also note that each story is provided because it contains factual or analytical information related to civil resistance, a campaign or a movement, or its overall context, and its inclusion does not necessarily indicate that ICNC embraces or accepts any ideological or political view which might also be expressed in that analysis or held by those who are resisting.

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