Arab & Islamic Politics

In calling for a demonstration in Damascus on March 10, Haitham Maleh, an opposition figure with close connections to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, proclaimed, “We are 85 percent of the country”—an apparent gesture of solidarity against Syria’s ruling Alawite minority. The group of about 100 demonstrators who answered his call

The most significant area of Saudi Arabia affected by the March 3 municipal elections was the enormous Eastern Province, which contains most of the kingdom's vast oil wealth and serves as home to its minority Shiite population. Unsurprisingly, local Shiites triumphed in several towns, winning nearly all of the seats

The fall of the Omar Karami cabinet in Beirut on February 28 marked an important development in the brewing confrontation between an energized civil society in Lebanon and the country's Syrian-backed government. While Damascus will likely try to staunch the bleeding of its occupation of Lebanon by redeploying troops—and perhaps

On February 24, 2005, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) approved the new cabinet presented by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei by a vote of fifty-four to ten, with four abstentions, establishing the first official government appointed after the January election of President Mahmoud Abbas. After a week of political infighting over

The surprisingly high turnout in the Iraqi elections is a positive development, but it is only one milestone in the road ahead. Beyond the elections, reconciliation becomes the fundamental issue. Sunni Arabs, who represent the overwhelming majority of insurgents, are demographically and politically isolated. As they have long been politically

The World Social Forum (WSF) is currently (January 26–31) convening a Global Anti-War Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, building on its previous conferences attended by thousands of antiglobalization activists from around the globe. Among the issues to be addressed are coordinating actions across borders, determining which tactics to use, finding

Iraq’s elections are ready to go forward, but conditions are “far from ideal” in Kofi Annan’s words, due to the growing insurgency, disagreements within the Shiite community, and the logistical difficulties of Iraq’s first ever-free elections. The soon-to-be-elected Transitional National Assembly will play a vital role in Iraq’s transitional process

For Palestinians, the January 9 elections represented a mechanism both for filling the void left by the death of Yassir Arafat and for adopting a path to a different future. Mahmoud Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen, won a decisive victory, nearly two-thirds of the vote, despite calls by Hamas

Iraq’s political transition accelerated in 2004 and will experience even more significant advances during 2005. The Iraqi elections represent the next major milestone in the transition, and the winners will fundamentally define Iraq’s future political system. Yet Iraq’s lack of experience with representative government makes forecasts of electoral outcomes difficult