Middle East Turmoil and Human Rights: How will the ‘New’ Regimes Expand Civil Liberties

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-87
Author(s):  
John W. Sutherlin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Civil Unrest

AbstractDuring the spring of 2011, there were a number of significant developments in North Africa and the Middle East. Specifically, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen all experienced levels of civil unrest not seen in more than a generation. Clearly there are cries for democracy and freedom, but what will this mean to groups that have historically been discriminated against or disenfranchised regardless of the type of regime in power? For example, will women fare any better as a result of a new government in Tunisia? Will gays in Cairo find a more tolerant government? Can ethnic or religious minorities in Tripoli endure or flourish? The answers to these questions get to the heart of meaningful transformations in governance structures in MENA states.

Human rights amidst despair in the Levant and the West

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-623
Author(s):  
Micheline Ishay
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The West ◽  
Pendulum Swing ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Arab Spring

In 2019, protests in the streets of Algeria and Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq brought back the fragrance of the Jasmine revolution. Can the pendulum swing back towards democracy and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa region – and in Europe? What will it take to endure? I argue three points. First, I maintain that the human rights aspirations of the Arab Spring rippled across the West in 2011 as disenfranchised groups reacted to increasing social and economic grievances. Second, I contend that the failure to counter these problems has fed a vicious cycle of religious radicalism and right-wing nationalism. Third, I argue that despite widespread Western exhaustion and an inclination to disengage from turmoil in the Middle East, current circumstances make possible new international human rights initiatives, drawn from history, to advance civil liberties, economic progress, security and gender equality in the Middle East, the West and beyond.

Mediterranean geographies of protest

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Fregonese
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Resistance Movements ◽  
State Security ◽  
European Cities ◽  
The Mediterranean

This special issue of Euro-commentaries tackles the question of what links unprecedented anti-regime uprisings in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, with the largest protests in decades in several European cities. Beyond the specificities of individual cases, uprisings on both sides of the Mediterranean have highlighted strong and often violent collisions between resistance movements and state security. How are these collisions reshaping urban and political geographies in the Mediterranean? The papers presented here explore different aspects of the 2011 protests, and share the view that these are shaped by concerns for social justice, human rights and democracy, which are not a prerogative of the Arab world, but indicate instead more complex geographies.

Studying Networked Communication in the Middle East

2018 ◽  
pp. 415-436
Author(s):  
Javier Borge-Holthoefer ◽  
Muzammil M. Hussain ◽  
Ingmar Weber
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Data Science ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Computational Social Science ◽  
Digital Networks ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
The Social

Digital infrastructure has been rapidly embraced in the Arab Middle East and North Africa in the last decade, opening a unique window for computational social science and network data science scholars. However, there are currently two coexisting social and economic realities in the region, which result in very different usages and dynamics of networked communication: countries with chronic civil unrest in which digital media have largely served as mobilization tools (e.g., Tunisia, Egypt), and relatively stable and wealthy societies that face social change and economic hyper-development (e.g., Qatar, Kuwait). Given such diversity across the region, how and why should social scientists study digital networks in the Middle East? What can digital networks teach us about the social and political aspects of the modern Middle East? In sum, while claims about digital technologies’ impacts across the region have been critiqued for being speculative and overblown, we suggest that digital technologies have instead broadened our ability to understand ongoing transformations among Arab states and societies.

WATER SECURITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: NEW DIMENSIONS OF AN OLD PROBLEM

2021 ◽  
pp. 88-105
Author(s):  
Alexander Kozintsev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Interstate Conflict ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Civil Unrest ◽  
Fruitful Cooperation ◽  
Regional Water

The article deals with the issue of water supply in the Middle East and North Africa. It focuses on the regional patterns of water allocation and causes of water scarcity. It is noted that state interaction in the field of water management is conflict driven and not followed by fruitful cooperation. The main types of regional water conflicts are presented. The article concludes with two case studies (Egypt and Syria) that demonstrate how ineffective management of water resources leads to interstate conflict or civil unrest.

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