DOCSLIB.ORG

97090865.Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
97090865.Pdf Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World Contents Civil Society News From Around the Region ........... 1-2 A round-up of important developments in democratization and human rights in the Arab World. The Sociologist Vs. The State: Round II..............................3 Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim continues to provoke the ire of the Egyptian regime. What is the Grassroots Democracy Project?..........................5 An overview of an ongoing ICDS democratization project. The Trial of Free Press..................................................6 Matthew Husing examines the assault on press freedoms within AEgypt. Judicial Compromise...................................................7 Ivan Rosales covers the most recent development in the Saudi Arabian legal system. Reluctant Arab Political Reform.......................................8 Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim on the hesitant political reform process in the Arab world. A Bittersweet Release....................................................11 An in-depth interview with recently-released prisoner and ICDS employee Amr Tharwat. Al-Rewaq.........................................................................10 A summary of the October weekly forums held at ICDS. Can Any of you Name the Swiss President?................…...12 Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim recounts his recent travels to Switzerland. How Long can Egypt Endure Penury?..........................14 Hassan Elsawaf bemoans the stagnation and status quo of Egyptian Thepolitics Copts and of Egypt:society. Victims of Discrimination ...............15 Moheb Zaki outlines the legal and societal discrimination being waged against Egypt’s Christian minority. •BAHRAIN appeal with another judge. are optimistic a decision will be made Human rights activist and Ibn Khaldunby the end of Lahoud’s term on Recently, Bahraini authoritiesCenter have Founder Saad Eddin IbrahimNovember 24. The meeting is seen as banned access to several civicannounced that he fears an attempta reconciliation by between competing mobilization web pages, includingauthorities the to detain him without trialparties and politicians, and is largely HAQ homepage. Authorities justifyif he returns to Egypt. In viewed2001, as a positive step in Lebanon’s censorship on the grounds that suchIbrahim was sentenced to seven yearspolitical development. civic organizations are not registered in prison for defamation of Egypt’s• MOROCCO under either the national reputation.Civic His commitment to Organizations Law ratified in 1989democratization or in the region has made the Political Societies Law ratified in Residents of Bin Samim recently him a political target. Ibrahim believespeacefully protested for the protection 2005. Organizations not registeredauthorities are might murder him, making considered illegal and subject to of their right to water. Police the act appear as suicide. The activist’sresponded violently, making numerous prosecution. Opponents of theconvictions have still not been silenced mandate accuse the Bahraini arrests. Several human rights and he continues to critique Presidentorganizations, including the Attac government of degrading free Mubarak’sspeech regime. and of over-regulating political critique. Morocco, the Universal Decade for Water in Morocco, and the National The HAQ Movement for Liberties • JORDAN and Democracy is one of many Organization for Protecting Public Money formally announced the public popular associations demanding greaterParliamentary elections in the month Bahraini democratization. Censorship right to water as a basic necessity. They of October came under harsh criticism encouraged citizens to support those of this and other sites is carried inout Jordan. Civil society has demanded in accordance with Press Decree Code arrested and show solidarity towards greater transparency in the Binelection Samim residents. No. 47, ratified in 2002. process,Bahraini hoping international watchdog journalists continue to be prosecuted groups might be allowed to monitor• PALESTINE according to its precepts. the process. The Ministry of Interiors •EGYPT maintains that 2003 election laws do not provide for election monitoring, Huwaida Taha’s appeal case hasand been will not provide watchdog groups dropped by Judge Mahmoud Hamza. with information. Taha, sentenced in May 2007, contends she was convicted after an unfair• LEBANONtrial. She spent six months in jail and paid a 20,000 pound fine, with Parliamentarybail set at majority leader MP Saad 10,000 pounds. Authorities accusedHariri met with MP Michel Auon, head the Al-Jazeera journalist of producingof the opposition Free Patriotic Movement. As the presidential election a documentary that promulgated Israel has announced that it will begin falsities defaming Egypt.nears, The both are looking to reach consensus on a candidate to assumecutting Gaza’s electricity supply. Israeli documentary focused on claims of Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai torture in the country. After sentencing,incumbent Emile Lahoud’s seat. The Christian bloc is looking to securestated an that public structures like her laptop, cellular phone, and tapes hospitals will not be subject to these were seized. Taha will continueagreed-upon her candidate by the constitutional deadline. Party memberscuts. Power constraints come in response to continued shelling insewed thehis mouth to protest of Tunisia’s region. Yet many fear this willmedia further censorship policies. complicate strained relations between Israel and Palestine, as well as• OMANbetween the Fatah and Hamas parties. Palestinian President Mahmoud AbbasOmani voters were set to go to the considers this latest action of Israelipolls on Oct. 27 to vote for members authorities as “sabotage” againstof an advisory council for Sultan continued efforts for peace andQaboos’s government. In 2003, the sovereignty. Omani government decided to allow citizens over the age of 21 to select members of the 84-member Majlis as- Shura, or Consultative Assembly, which • IRAQ advises the Sultan on economic and Turkish aircraft have been bombingsocial issues. The Assembly cannot, the Iraqi border in what is termedhowever, deal with issues of defense, “counterterrorism” efforts. The internal security or foreign policy. Turkish military has been shellingAccording the to the Gulf Times, 732 separatist region considered candidatesa were poised to vie for seats stronghold of the Kurdistan Workers’in the consultative body, among them Party (PKK). Claims that militant20 PKK women. For this first time, members have been launching bordercandidates in this year’s campaign were attacks on military personnel and civilians caused Turkish parliament to pass a resolution of armed incursion into Iraq; a mass invasion has been stalled while waiting for international consensus or a diplomatic answer. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised to crack down on PKK activity while Iraqi Kurdish urged the PKK to adhere to a ceasefire. Iraqi authorities fear any incursion would question regional sovereignty and further cleave the conflicted state. • Tunisia allowed to make use of billboards, newspaper advertisements and slogans, although these forms of publicity are subject to limitations in size and quantity. Although the government expanded the freedom to advertise this year, none of the candidates have presented Tunisian political activist and majorjournalist opposition to current Mohammed Abbou was prevented by government policy or made promises state forces from embarking on foran wide-scale reform. The candidates international flight at Tunishave Airport in general expressed loyalty to on Oct. 23. Abbou was allegedlythe person and rule of Sultan Qaboos, intended to travel to Cairo to show Al-Destour ruling since 1970, whom many have solidarity for Editor-in-Chiefpraised for “putting Oman on the path Ibrahim Eissa. Abbou reportedlytoward modernization and wished to attend Eissa’s upcoming trialdemocracy”. for publishing rumors and misleading the Egyptian public. The TunisianOmani official were hoping that the dissident gained notoriety for sewingnew advertising policies would result his mouth shut in jail while servingin ana increase in voter turnout, which three and a half year term for reachedwriting 70% of Oman’s nearly 389,000 an article published on a Tunisianregistered news voters in 2003. website that criticized state-led torture and compared it to torture reports at the Iraqi prison of Abu Ghaib. Abbou nce again Prof. Saad Eddin Ibrahim has hasincurred ever called for such a linkage between foreign aid and the wrath of President Hosni Mubarak.liberal reforms. As expected, this raised a hysterical hue O and cry in the pro-government media, the anti-Western, Ibrahim was charged in June 2000 of havingparticularly damaged the left-leaning, circles, and elicited criticism Egypt's reputation abroad, thereby indirectlyfrom harming some independent its commentators. "Traitor", "taking economy. After a series of trials over the followingfood from three the mouth of the poor, and "endangering national years he was finally acquitted on March 18, security"2003, byand the similar accusations in the same vein filled Court of Cassation, Egypt's highest tribunal, butnumerous not before editorials that castigated Saad Eddin Ibrahim he had spent some 14 months behind bars, which causedfor daring to make such a proposal to President Bush when him serious permanent health damage. the latter met with prominent dissidents from all over the world in Prague last June. Now he is once more the target of nine new investigations,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Women's Struggle for Citizenship
    OCTOBER 2017 Women’s Struggle for Citizenship: Civil Society and Constitution Making after the Arab Uprisings JOSÉ S. VERICAT Cover Photo: Marchers on International ABOUT THE AUTHORS Women’s Day, Cairo, Egypt, March 8, 2011. Al Jazeera English. JOSÉ S. VERICAT is an Adviser at the International Peace Institute. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper represent those of the author Email: [email protected] and not necessarily those of the International Peace Institute. IPI welcomes consideration of a wide range of perspectives in the pursuit of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS a well-informed debate on critical policies and issues in international The author would like to thank Mohamed Elagati and affairs. Nidhal Mekki for their useful feedback. This project would not have seen the light of day without the input of dozens IPI Publications of civil society activists from Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen, as Adam Lupel, Vice President well as several from Libya and Syria, who believed in its Albert Trithart, Associate Editor value and selflessly invested their time and energy into it. Madeline Brennan, Assistant Production Editor To them IPI is very grateful. Within IPI, Amal al-Ashtal and Waleed al-Hariri provided vital support at different stages Suggested Citation: of the project’s execution. José S. Vericat, “Women’s Struggle for Citizenship: Civil Society and IPI owes a debt of gratitude to its many donors for their Constitution Making after the Arab generous support. In particular, IPI would like to thank the Uprisings,” New York: International governments of Finland and Norway for making this Peace Institute, October 2017. publication possible.
    [Show full text]
  • The American University in Cairo School of Humanities and Social Sciences Latent Heat: Changing Forms of Activism Under Repressi
    The American University in Cairo School of Humanities and Social Sciences Latent Heat: Changing Forms of Activism under Repressive Authoritarian Regimes: A Case Study of Egypt, 2000-2008 A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts/Science By Shireen Mohamed Zayed under the supervision of Dr. James H. Sunday August/2017 1 Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 3 Dedication ................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgment .......................................................................................................... 5 Chapter One: Introduction and Literature Review ............................................................. 6 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Literature Review: Beyond Repression and Coercion Alone ....................................... 8 1.2.1 Operational Definitions .................................................................................. 9 1.2.2 Relationship between Repression and Activism ............................................... 10 1.2.3 Scholarly Debate: Activism Under Authoritarian Regimes ................................. 12 1.3 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • In May 2011, Freedom House Issued a Press Release Announcing the Findings of a Survey Recording the State of Media Freedom Worldwide
    Media in North Africa: the Case of Egypt 10 Lourdes Pullicino In May 2011, Freedom House issued a press release announcing the findings of a survey recording the state of media freedom worldwide. It reported that the number of people worldwide with access to free and independent media had declined to its lowest level in over a decade.1 The survey recorded a substantial deterioration in the Middle East and North Africa region. In this region, Egypt suffered the greatest set-back, slipping into the Not Free category in 2010 as a result of a severe crackdown preceding the November 2010 parliamentary elections. In Tunisia, traditional media were also censored and tightly controlled by government while internet restriction increased extensively in 2009 and 2010 as Tunisians sought to use it as an alternative field for public debate.2 Furthermore Libya was included in the report as one of the world’s worst ten countries where independent media are considered either non-existent or barely able to operate and where dissent is crushed through imprisonment, torture and other forms of repression.3 The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Arab Knowledge Report published in 2009 corroborates these findings and view the prospects of a dynamic, free space for freedom of thought and expression in Arab states as particularly dismal. 1 Freedom House, (2011): World Freedom Report, Press Release dated May 2, 2011. The report assessed 196 countries and territories during 2010 and found that only one in six people live in countries with a press that is designated Free. The Freedom of the Press index assesses the degree of print, broadcast and internet freedom in every country, analyzing the events and developments of each calendar year.
    [Show full text]
  • Approaching Rule of Law in Post-Revolution Egypt: Where We Were, Where We Are, and Where We Should Be*
    !"#$%&'(%)(*(+&(,-#"./%#0%1'$(,%2*,3.3. !""#$%&'()*+,-./+$0+1%2+()+3$456,/7$.-5($)+8*9"5 !! !!" $ !% "! ! $ #! &$ 314758-TEXT.NATIVE.1350535652.DOCX (DO NOT DELETE) 10/17/2012 9:48 PM ! U.C. DAVIS JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW & POLICY VOLUME 18 SPRING 2012 NUMBER 2 ARTICLE APPROACHING RULE OF LAW IN POST-REVOLUTION EGYPT: WHERE WE WERE, WHERE WE ARE, AND WHERE WE SHOULD BE* Ahmed Eldakak** ABSTRACT Partial absence of rule of law was a central reason for the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, and the Revolution provides a golden opportunity to establish full rule of law in Egypt. Using a substantive approach to interpreting the rule of law doctrine, this Article analyzes the aspects of absence of rule of law before the Revolution. The former regime disregarded the rule of law by amending the constitution to promote the rule of the president, issuing laws that served the interests of the president’s entourage, not enforcing judicial decisions, restricting freedom of speech, and concentrating the power in the hands of the president through the disreputable emergency law. The period following the Revolution witnessed an increasing trend toward respecting the rule of law, through changes such as enforcement of judicial decisions, trying the former president and his entourage before courts of law, and increased promotion of freedom of expression. However, several serious obstacles to promoting rule of law remain after the Revolution: the current constitutional mess, the state of emergency, and the military trials for civilians. Ultimately, this Article seeks to provide a roadmap to establishing full rule of law in Egypt, recommending the 314758-TEXT.NATIVE.1350535652.DOCX (DO NOT DELETE) 10/17/2012 9:48 PM 262 University of California, Davis [Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward Muslim Democracies Saad Eddin Ibrahim
    Toward Muslim Democracies Saad Eddin Ibrahim Journal of Democracy, Volume 18, Number 2, April 2007, pp. 5-13 (Article) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2007.0025 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/214438 Access provided by your local institution (27 Feb 2017 15:55 GMT) TOWARD MUSLIM DEMOCRACIES Saad Eddin Ibrahim Saad Eddin Ibrahim, founder and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies and professor of political sociology at the American University in Cairo, delivered the 2006 Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World (see box on p. 6). Dr. Ibrahim has been one of the Arab world’s most prominent spokesmen on behalf of democracy and human rights. His 2000 arrest and subsequent seven- year sentence for accepting foreign funds without permission and “tar- nishing” Egypt’s image sparked a loud outcry from the international community. In 2003, Egypt’s High Court of Cassation declared his trial improper and cleared him of all charges. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than thirty-five books in Arabic and English, including Egypt, Islam, and Democracy: Critical Essays (2002). The late Seymour Martin Lipset was one of the greatest men I have known in my life as an academic and as an activist. He was the first person I was introduced to—through his seminal 1960 book Political Man1—during my first year of graduate school at UCLA, in 1963. As a matter of fact, I had thought that I was going to be his student before I learned, much to my disappointment, that he was teaching at another campus of the University of California.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Notes Introduction 1. Maye Kassem. 1999. In the Guise of Democracy: Governance in Contem- porary Egypt (London: Ithaca Press); Eberhard Kienle. 2001. A Grand Delusion: Democracy and Economic Reform in Egypt (London: I. B. Tau- ris); Eva Bellin. 2002. Stalled Democracy: Capital, Labor, and the Paradox of State- Sponsored Development (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press); Jason Brownlee. 2007. Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press); Lisa Blaydes. 2011. Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- versity Press); Ellen Lust-Okar. 2004. “Divided They Rule: The Manage- ment and Manipulation of Political Opposition,” Journal of Democracy 36(2): 139– 56. 2. Barrington Moore. 1966. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (Boston: Beacon); Charles Moraz. 1968. The Triumph of the Middle Class (New York: Anchor); Eric Hobsbawm. 1969. Industry and Empire (Har- mondsworth: Penguin). 3. Bellin. 2002. 4. Nazih Ayubi. 1995. Over-Stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East (London: I. B. Tauris). 5. Samuel Huntington. 1991. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press), p. 67. 6. Ray Bush. 2012. “Marginality or Abjection? The Political Economy of Pov- erty Production in Egypt,” in Marginality and Exclusion in Egypt, ed. Ray Bush and Habib Ayeb (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press), p. 66. 7. Bellin. 2002. 8. Amr Adly. 2009. “Politically- Embedded Cronyism: The Case of Egypt,” Busi- ness and Politics 11(4): 1– 28. 9. Bellin. 2002. 10. Adly. 2009. 11. The only Policies Secretariat meeting that Gamal Mubarak missed since the establishment of the Secretariat in 2002 was in March 2010 when he was accompanying his father in Germany for treatment.
    [Show full text]
  • Interview with Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim Daniel Benaim
    The Fletcher School Online Journal for issues related to Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization Spring 2006 Interview with Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim Daniel Benaim In the weeks leading up to Egypt's No. You can’t have democracy without being Presidential election, I had the opportunity to inclusive of everybody, so long as people are interview Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim. Dr. Ibrahim is respectful of the rules of the game. perhaps Egypt's best-known dissident intellectual and the Founder and Chairman of the Ibn Khaldun One critic worried that you were describing Center for Development Studies in Cairo, where I the Islamists that you wish for, rather than those was a Summer Fellow in 2005. In June 2000, Dr. that you see. How would you integrate the Ibrahim and two dozen of his associates were Muslim Brotherhood into Egyptian politics while arrested and jailed on charges ranging from assuring that they play by the rules of the game? defrauding the European Union to disseminating Isn’t there a danger that the process would be information harmful to Egypt's interests. After a irreversible? three-year ordeal during which Dr. Ibrahim (62 years old at the time) was sentenced to seven years The Egyptian Constitution includes all kinds of hard labor--all charges against him were of built-in safeguards. I suggested the armed forces dismissed by Egypt's highest court and he was and the constitution serve as the safeguards of released from prison in 2003. Sitting in his office in pluralism, of civil government, and of regular old a beautiful Islamic villa in Cairo's Mokattam democratic aims.
    [Show full text]
  • Egypt's Uncertain Departure from Neo-Authoritarianism
    MEDITERRANEAN PAPER SERIES 2011 TRANSITION TO WHAT: EGYPT’S UNCERTAIN DEPARTURE FROM NEO-AUTHORITARIANIsm Daniela Pioppi Maria Cristina Paciello Issandr El Amrani Philippe Droz-Vincent © 2011 The German Marshall Fund of the United States. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the German Marshall Fund of the United States GMF. Please direct inquiries to: The German Marshall Fund of the United States 1744 R Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 T 1 202 683 2650 F 1 202 265 1662 E [email protected] This publication can be downloaded for free at www.gmfus.org/publications. Limited print copies are also available. To request a copy, send an e-mail to [email protected]. GMF Paper Series The GMF Paper Series presents research on a variety of transatlantic topics by staff, fellows, and partners of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of GMF. Comments from readers are welcome; reply to the mailing address above or by e-mail to [email protected]. About GMF The German Marshall Fund of the United States GMF is a non-partisan American public policy and grantmaking institu- tion dedicated to promoting better understanding and cooperation between North America and Europe on transatlantic and global issues. GMF does this by supporting individuals and institutions working in the transatlantic sphere, by convening leaders and members of the policy and business communities, by contributing research and analysis on transatlantic topics, and by pro- viding exchange opportunities to foster renewed commitment to the transatlantic relationship.
    [Show full text]
  • Elections in Egypt RIGHTS State of Permanent Emergency Incompatible with Free and Fair Vote WATCH
    Egypt HUMAN Elections in Egypt RIGHTS State of Permanent Emergency Incompatible with Free and Fair Vote WATCH Elections in Egypt State of Permanent Emergency Incompatible with Free and Fair Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-721-3 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org December 2010 ISBN: 1-56432-721-3 Elections in Egypt State of Permanent Emergency Incompatible with Free and Fair Vote Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 I. Elections in a State of Emergency ............................................................................................. 4 Disruption of Demonstrations................................................................................................ 4 Media Crackdown ................................................................................................................. 5 Arrests of Campaign Activists ...............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The State's Unsustainable Counterrevolutionary Comeback In
    IEMed. European Institute of the Mediterranean Consortium formed by: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Government of Catalonia Barcelona City Council President: Artur Mas President of the Government of Catalonia Vice-Presidents: José Manuel García-Margallo Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Joana Ortega Vice-President of the Government of Catalonia Xavier Trias Mayor of Barcelona Executive President: Senén Florensa Board of Trustees - Business Council: Corporate Sponsors Partner Institutions Fundació Abertis Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona Banc Sabadell ESADE Caixa Bank Foment de Treball Nacional Iberia IESE Business School Manubens Pimec Port de Barcelona Amics de País Port de Tarragona Repsol PapersIEMed. Published by the European Institute of the Mediterranean Coordination: Pol Morillas Proof-reading: Neil Charlton Layout: Núria Esparza ISSN: 1888-5357 Legal deposit: B-27445-2011 September 2014 On the occasion of the Annual Conference “A Transforming Arab World: Between Continuity and Change”, held in Paris on 3rd and 4th October 2013 and co-organised by the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and the IEMed, distinguished analysts presented the results of their research on the new dynamics in the region following the Arab uprisings. Three major issues were explored: the role of the state in absorbing the shocks of change, the fragmentation or cohesion of the Mediterranean region, and the new actors and demands of Arab civil society. This series of Papers brings together the revised research works presented at the EuroMeSCo Annual Conference 2013. This publication has been produced with the assistance of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the AECID or the European Institute of the Mediterranean.
    [Show full text]
  • The Kefaya Movement
    THE ARTS This PDF document was made available CHILD POLICY from www.rand.org as a public service of CIVIL JUSTICE the RAND Corporation. EDUCATION ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT Jump down to document6 HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit NATIONAL SECURITY research organization providing POPULATION AND AGING PUBLIC SAFETY objective analysis and effective SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY solutions that address the challenges SUBSTANCE ABUSE facing the public and private sectors TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY around the world. TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE Support RAND WORKFORCE AND WORKPLACE Purchase this document Browse Books & Publications Make a charitable contribution For More Information Visit RAND at www.rand.org Explore the RAND National Defense Research Institute View document details Limited Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND mono- graphs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity. The Kefaya Movement A Case Study of a Grassroots Reform Initiative Nadia Oweidat, Cheryl Benard, Dale Stahl, Walid Kildani, Edward O'Connell, Audra K.
    [Show full text]
  • A Politics of Inclusion: an Interview with Saad Eddin Ibrahim
    A Politics of Inclusion: An Interview with Saad Eddin Ibrahim Saad Eddin Ibrahim is Professor of Political Sociology at the American University in Cairo. He founded the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies and is one of the Arab world’s most prominent spokesmen for democracy and human rights. Author, co-author, or editor of more than thirty-five books in Arabic and English, including Egypt, Islam and Democracy: Critical Essays (1996), he was arrested by the Mubarak regime in 2000 and sentenced to seven years’ hard labour for ‘tarnishing’ Egypt’s image. After an international outcry, Egypt’s High Court cleared him of all charges in 2003. In this interview he explores the fateful encounter of Islam and the Arab world with modernity and democracy, and assesses the prospects for Islamic reformation and Arab democratisation. He examines the symbiotic relationship between the region’s autocrats and theocrats, before turning to the prospects for progress in Iraq. The interview was conducted on 11 February 2007. Part 1: Personal and intellectual background Alan Johnson: Who and what have been the most important personal and intellectual influences in your life? Saad Eddin Ibrahim: As a youngster I was influenced by leaders from our national history and from the ‘third world’ – Gandhi, Nehru, Mao, Che and Nasser (whom I met at an early age but who later stripped me of my nationality and declared me persona non grata when I was in my twenties). These people shaped me positively and negatively – some became negative reference points. And my family was very influential. My uncles adhered to different political traditions, from Communism to the Muslim Brotherhood.
    [Show full text]