16 Feb
Uncategorized

Let My People Vote!

By Steven Philp Egypt may lack a president, but it is not bereft of direction. Meeting two primary demands of pro-democracy protestors, Egyptian military leaders have dissolved the parliament, suspended the constitution and set a schedule for drafting a new one ahead of September elections. As the Washington Post details, this is one of the first steps towards civilian rule following the resignation of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak. The ruling council has communicated that these changes will remain in effect for six months until presidential and parliamentary elections can occur. In the meantime a committee is being formed to amend the constitution, and provide a vehicle for popular referendum to approve these changes. What is remarkable about these changes is their genesis within the citizens of Egypt. As noted by columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman, one...

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11 Feb
History, Latest, topics

A Revolution By Any Other Name

By Niv Elis For the Czech Republic it was Velvet.  For Serbia, it was a Bulldozer.  For Iran, it was distinctly Islamic.  But nobody has yet settled on what the freshly minted Egyptian Revolution will be called.  Will it be floral, like Tunisia's Jasmine, Kyrgyzstan's Tulips, Georgia's Roses and Portugal's Carnations?  Will it be woody, like Croatia's Log and Lebanon's Cedar Revolutions?  Perhaps it will be colorful like Ukraine's Orange and Iran's failed Green one, or maybe, like the bloodless overthrows in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the revolution will be a Singing one. Some have bandied about Papyrus as a descriptor for the Egyptian popular uprising.  Other suggestions might include the Pyramid revolution, the Mummy revolution, the Tahrir (liberation) Revolution, the Facebook Revolution or, in a tribute to the Bangles hit, simply "Revolt Like an Egyptian."  Ultimately,...

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28 Jan
Uncategorized

Cairo is Burning; Is Egyptian-Israeli Peace Next?

By Niv Elis As the world watches the unprecedented protests in Cairo unfold live on Al Jazeera, America and Israel face an intractable dilemma over who to support.  To  lovers of democracy and human rights, the Egyptian people’s uprising is a phenomenon to be encouraged; the Egyptian regime is a police state (though milder than, say, Iran or Saudi Arabia), which for nearly 60 years has held an iron grip on the country’s political institutions, limiting the media and sweeping aside opposition rights.  Like all people, Egyptians deserve better, and it seems incomprehensible that Western governments would fail to support them. Yet for decades, Egypt’s autocracy has contributed a modicum of geopolitical stability to the region. Having established itself as the leader of the Arab world during the Cold War, Egypt made waves when it broke from...

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