British Prime Minister David Cameron is enraged at the massacre on a beach at the Sousse resort in Tunisia last week. And well he should be: thirty of his countrymen and women were slaughtered. He has pledged a “full spectrum” response, whatever that means. But while Mr. Cameron is engaging
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The Disaffected Lib: Want Canada to Make a Difference? Let’s Back Tunisia.
Face it. There’s not much hope that we’re really going to achieve anything significant from our air war in Iraq, regardless of whether we get stuck into Syria also. All ISIS needs to survive is a nation in chaos. They weren’t in on the ground floor in Syria. ISIS moved
Continue readingDemocracy inches along in Tunisia
The Arab spring, one of the most encouraging events from a democratic perspective in recent years, has unfortunately mostly failed. Egypt, the most important Arab country, and the country where democrats’ hopes where highest, has lapsed back into an increasingly oppressive military dictatorship. But one country, the one where it
Continue readingRedBedHead: Arab Revolutions Put Iran Attack On Back Foot
There can be little doubt that the Arab revolutions have already transformed the Middle East and look set to continue and deepen that transformation. Dictators in Tunisia, Yemen and, most spectacularly thus far, Egypt have gotten the boot. In Tunisia and Egypt the working class played a sizeable role in
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Defining Democracy
Just back from a very brief holiday in western New York, I’m still feeling a bit too relaxed to post anything lengthy, but I do have a reading recommendation for anyone concerned about democracy in its various forms. Earlier this year, The Star’s Rick Salutin took time off from his
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Lessons from Kyrgyzstan
A year before the Arab Spring, Kyrgyzstan experienced a populist uprising of its own complete with violent conflict, from both the state and between ethnicities, and resulted in a change of governance. The lessons that can be drawn from the recent history in Kyrgyzstan are useful in putting some of the Arab
Continue readingRedBedHead: Greek Austerity Vote Is Just The Beginning
There was a certain amount of hand-wringing by the business press and politicians internationally that the PASOK government of Greece might not be able to pass the second austerity package in a year. However, it seemed unlikely that more than a handful…
Continue readingLate Friday Night Ode To … Peaceful Democratic Uprisings
Back there last Saturday, I wrote the following:As we applaud our Tunisian and Egyptian brothers and sisters, let us keep firmly in mind that it is they whom are bravely uprising in order to win their birthrights of freedom and liberty that are the bon…
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Egypt and the Press: Stories and Stories
Coverage of the uprising in Egypt in its second week has become characterised by a number of types of reports, most of which paint colorful pictures, but do little to inform on the situation. There are the political discussions as to the West’s reaction, and how the uprising will unbalance
Continue readingpunditman: Tunisia’s Spark & Egypt’s Flame: The Middle East Is Rising
Peacenik is becoming bored with the Egyptian riots. Peacenik doesn’t know if that says something about Peacenik or about the state of the world. The world is in the early stages of a cataclysmic collapse and Peacenik is bored. Is seven days of watching Egyptians milling around a square boring?
Continue readingpunditman: Tunisia’s Spark & Egypt’s Flame: The Middle East Is Rising
Peacenik is becoming bored with the Egyptian riots. Peacenik doesn’t know if that says something about Peacenik or about the state of the world. The world is in the early stages of a cataclysmic collapse and Peacenik is bored. Is seven days of watch…
Continue readingpunditman: Tunisia’s Spark & Egypt’s Flame: The Middle East Is Rising
Peacenik is becoming bored with the Egyptian riots. Peacenik doesn’t know if that says something about Peacenik or about the state of the world. The world is in the early stages of a cataclysmic collapse and Peacenik is bored. Is seven days of watching Egyptians milling around a square boring?
Continue readingMeanwhile, Back In Utopia Democratica …
First Tunisia and now Egypt.
One can only rejoice at seeing people taking their aspirations for civil rights and freedoms into their own hands, courageously claiming these justly as their undeniable birthrights as human beings and steadfastly demandin…
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Tunisia’s Deposed Ben Ali Family: Canadian Immigration’s political statement
Yesterday reports appeared in the Canadian press, TV and radio, about the arrival in Montreal of family members of the deposed Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife, Leila, nee Trabelsis. The expatriate Tunisian community in Montreal had already been watching the situation closely as unidentified Tunisian
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Revolution in Tunisia?
Zine el Abidine Ben Ali The President of Tunisia, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, has been driven from office. Following up on a previous article here at World Headlines Review about civil unrest in Tunisia, demonstrations only intensified in the face of the lethal force applied by police and military
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Tunisia and Algeria: North African States of Unrest
Reports of civil unrest and suicidal protests in Algeria and Tunisia these past two weeks are highlighting the precarious conditions under which many people across the world live: on the verge of starvation, hopelessly unemployed and frequently homeless. For decades these two neighboring nations have been considered relatively stable, if
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