“‘Why do you think that, at 67, I would start a career as a dictator?’” President Kais Saied said in a meeting with The New York Times, quoting Charles de Gaulle. He vowed to preserve hard-fought rights.
Tag: Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- )
Qaddafi’s Son Is Alive. And He Wants to Take Libya Back.
In his first meeting with a foreign journalist in a decade, Seif al-Islam described his years in captivity — and hinted at a bid for Libya’s presidency.
Why Tunisia’s Promise of Democracy Struggles to Bear Fruit
The revolution of 2011 ousted a dictator and set off the Arab Spring. But then the West overlooked the country’s economic problems, intent on creating a bulwark against Islamist extremism.
Tunisia’s Democracy Verges on Collapse as President Moves to Take Control
The effort by President Kais Saied threatened the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring protests a decade ago, and his opponents called it a coup.
A Decade After the Arab Spring, Autocrats Still Rule the Mideast
The popular uprisings of 2011 mostly failed, but they gave the region a taste for democracy that continues to whet an appetite for change.
A Decade On, Silence Fills Egypt’s Field of Broken Dreams
In 2011, Tahrir Square was at the vanguard of popular uprisings known as the Arab Spring. But hopes for a democratic Egypt were crushed and the historic square given a sterile new look.
Khalifa Bin Salman al-Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, Dies at 84
During his tenure as the world’s longest-serving prime minister, he oversaw development in the Gulf kingdom, stood up for the monarchy and quashed dissent.
The Israel-U.A.E. Deal and the Beirut Blast Both Box in Iran
With Arab neighbors more worried about Iran than Israel, is Tehran losing the battle for influence in the region?
In Egypt, Images From American Protests Evoke a Lost Revolution
Memories of 2011’s Arab Spring, and its fragile hopes, have been revived in the minds of many Egyptians as they’ve watched a strikingly similar dynamic play out in the United States.
Autocrats’ Quandary: You Can’t Arrest a Virus
The world’s strongmen are reverting to their standard playbook to project an aura of control. It’s a risky strategy for a chaotic crisis.