Almost a decade after the launch of the so-called “Arab Spring”, one of the most troubled regions in the entire world remains threatened by the prospects of facing a new wave of protests, demanding regime change due to the ever growing number of problems in such spheres as personal finance, urbanization and unemployment. Since the…
In a breathless 48 hours, a president, defence minister and security chief have all been ousted in Sudan. Omar al-Bashir held absolute power for three decades as president. Awad Ahmed Ibn Auf, the defence minister who announced Bashir’s arrest and declared the country would be run by a military council for two years, lasted all…
The 7-year old conflict in Syria that is drawing to a close turned out to be a geopolitical struggle ultimately, although it began with the Arab Spring. For all protagonists involved in the conflict, geopolitical concerns were the overriding factor. For example, Tehran gave primacy to the geopolitical struggle because it has implications for its…
We have all been here before, several times. We were here when Islamists won the first round of elections in Algeria in December 1991; when an uprising in Yemen started on 27 January, 2011; when Hosni Mubarak stepped down after 18 days of demonstrations in Egypt on 11 February; when the protests in the town…
Algeria is experiencing political unrest after its ailing leader decided to run for his fifth term next month. The North African state has been rocked by its largest protests since the 2011 “Arab Spring” after President Bouteflika – who’s thought by many to be physically, and possibly even mentally, incapacitated after suffering a debilitating stroke…
During many meetings with senior members of the Syrian opposition in various European cities in 2013-2014, I would remind them that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, amongst others, host and finance the opposition due to their own self-interest and agendas; and not out of love for Syria. I would note that there is…
