Political transition in the Middle East and North Africa operates so far on the principle of ‘The King is dead, long live the King.’ Libya’s battle for Tripoli alongside ongoing mass anti-government demonstrations that toppled autocratic leaders of Algeria and Sudan demonstrate that both popular Arab protests that in 2011 forced four presidents out of…
In previous times, when Saudi Arabia sought to intervene in the affairs of foreign nations, it did so overtly. Whether funding foreign masjids to advance Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam or sponsoring militant groups with unambiguous links to Riyadh, it used to be that when Saudi Arabia wanted change in a foreign nation,…
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…
The similarity between events in Algeria, Libya and Sudan evoke what happened in 2011 in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. For some, it was a revolutionary movement against dictatorships, while for others, it was a replay of the organisation by the British of the Great Arab Revolt of 1916. Concerning 2011, the publication of internal Foreign…
What just happened in Sudan was likely a military coup despite the “official” explanation being that President Bashir simply stepped down, and while this might appear on the surface to be a huge development, its immediate consequences will probably be quite limited even though certain “dark scenarios” still can’t be ruled out. The news just…
