International Crisis Group

Defterios: Why Egypt’s transition from its Arab Spring is so painful | CNN

By John Defterios

It was January 25, 2011 — day two of the World Economic Forum — when the brisk winds of change from Tahrir Square swept through the Swiss Alpine village of Davos.

Just a month before, in Tunisia, a vegetable seller triggered the Arab Spring when he doused himself with petrol and lit himself on fire. He had been frustrated by a sheer lack of opportunity, despite headline economic growth that looked promising on paper.

Tunisia, with a population of just over 10 million, is one matter. Egypt is eight times larger, and 40% of its people live on less than $2 a day.

FULL ARTICLE (CNN)

Photo: Nick Bygon/Flickr

Jemen ein Jahr danach: Der Regimewechsel steht noch aus | der Standard

von Gudrun Harrer

Ali Mohsen steht der islamistischen Partei Islah nahe - und Präsident Hadi hat in letzter Zeit viele Islah-Leute in wichtige Posten gehievt, zu viele für den Geschmack der revolutionären Jugend, aber sogar für den von manchen anderen Mitgliedern des oppositionellen Parteienbündnisses JMP. Die Islah ist ohne Zweifel heute die stärkste Partei des Jemen - auch hier fährt der Zug in Richtung mehr staatlicher Islam -, aber noch hat sie keine Wahlen gewonnen. Dass sie dennoch jetzt schon abkassiert, stört viele.

Manchmal scheint Hadi überhaupt zu vergessen, dass er nur einer Not-Transitionsregierung vorsteht, schreibt der Thinktank International Crisis Group (ICG) in einem Bericht im Oktober. Auch Hadi platziert vermehrt Leute aus seinem Clan - auch er hat einen Sohn - rund um sich. Angesichts der schlechten Sicherheitssituation ist verständlich, dass er enge Vertraute für seinen Schutz einsetzt, aber in der Politik haben sie eigentlich nichts zu suchen. Spöttisch spricht man jetzt schon von einer “Abyanisierung”, die Salehs “Sanhanisierung” abgelöst habe. Hadi stammt aus Abyan, so wie Saleh aus Sanhan stammte.

GANZEN ARTIKEL (der Standard)

Foto: kebnekaise/Flickr

Riots Erupt Across Jordan Over Gas Prices | The New York Times

By Jodi Rudoren

JERUSALEM — Violent protests broke out across Jordan on Tuesday night after the government announced an increase in fuel prices, inciting what appeared to be an unparalleled show of anger directed at the king after months of mounting tension in the strategically important and politically fragile kingdom.

Demonstrators burned tires, smashed traffic lights and blocked roads in several Jordanian cities. Riot police officers tried to quell some of the crowds with tear gas. There were calls for a general strike on Wednesday.

FULL ARTICLE (The New York Times)

Photo: Kaj17/Flickr

Experts Urge Focus on Microeconomics in Maghreb | AlertNet

By Carey L. Biron

A year and a half since popular revolts led to a historic wave of pro-democracy optimism, the political transitions in Arab Spring countries remain beset by sectarian factionalism and rusty or nascent governance institutions. Yet such issues are being further hindered by the stuttering global economy, particularly in Europe, and a lack of focus by policymakers on the informal sector.

“Remember, almost all the self-immolators during the Arab Spring uprisings were informal-sector actors,” William Lawrence, North Africa director with the International Crisis Group (ICG), a watchdog, said in Washington on Friday.

“Until these governments stop seeing the informal sector as the enemy, and until they decide to turn to this sector for taxes and sustainable jobs, you’re going to have a terrible economic situation in all of these countries. Instead, we’re seeing the exact opposite, a clampdown on the informal sector.”

FULL ARTICLE (AlertNet)

Photo: Wikimedia Commons/User:Man

COLUMN: Trying to have it both ways in Syria | Reuters

By David Rohde

Amid the daily reports of clashes and killings in Syria, a subtler message is emerging: America is increasingly irrelevant.

Inside Syria, opposition fighters complain that the United States is doing little to help them, according to intrepid reporting by correspondents for Reuters, the New York Times and Foreign Affairs. Instead, funds and arms from Qatar and Saudi Arabia are turning jihadists into a growing presence. Among international observers, Washington is seen as insignificant.

“On the ground, really, this administration has been essentially irrelevant, locked into its own perpetual debate on what to say and what to do,” said Peter Harling, Syria analyst for the International Crisis Group. “I think generally this administration in the Arab Spring has spent a huge amount of time trying to analyze events instead of shaping them.”

FULL ARTICLE (Reuters)

Photo: FreedomHouse/Flickr

Assad’s Alawites run out of options  |  Sydney Morning Herald

By Paul McGeough

The dilemma for Syria’s Alawites is acute. Do they go off a cliff with their fellow believer Bashar al-Assad, or can they retreat to safe ground from which to negotiate an alternative future once the dictator President has been swept away?

Numbering just 2 million, they are snared in a historic trap - now being sprung by the Arab Spring.

FULL ARTICLE (Sydney Morning Herald)

Photo: Freedom House/Flickr

Tunisia: Hardline Islam threatens democracy gains  |  Boston.com

By Paul Schemm/Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia—Thousands of hardcore Muslims chant against Jews. Youths rampage through cities at night in protest of “blasphemous” art. A sit-in by religious students degenerates into fist fights and the desecration of Tunisia’s flag.

FULL ARTICLE (Boston.com)

Photo: BRQ Network/Flickr

Tunisia must address economic woes to avoid unrest spilling over

William Lawrence, The Guardian

Tunisia has stood out as a model of relatively peaceful democratic change amid Arab turbulence. But the tumult that rages just below the surface – from churning labour unrest to the explosive Salafist riots which attracted angry marginalised youth – are a clear sign that the social and economic causes of the Arab spring have not subsided.

The revolution brought major political changes but the economic devastation of the struggle, coupled with the side-effects of the European economic downturn, are helping undermine confidence in the new government. Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki recently warned that if the new number one priority, the Tunisian economy, is not fixed, there will be a “revolution within the revolution”.

FULL ARTICLE (The Guardian)

Photo: Samir Abdelmoumen