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NeilHicks wrote a new diary post: Egyptian Elections: Five reasons to stick with the process as uncertainty follows recent vote
Political parties with clear Islamic identities appear to be gaining a majority in preliminary results from Egypt’s first round of parliamentary elections: the Muslim Brotherhood backed Freedom and Justice Party has around 40% of the vote and a further 25% went to the more extreme Salafi, An-Nour party. While the Brotherhood and the FJP have pledged [...]
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NeilHicks wrote a new diary post: In the Middle East, the Obama Administration is Still Failing to Live up to its Rhetoric
In a speech earlier this week to the U.S. – Islamic World Forum Secretary of State Hillary Clinton again exposed tensions at the core of the Obama administration’s response to popular uprisings for human dignity throughout the Middle East and North Africa. These inconsistencies leave human rights and democracy activists in the region wondering which side [...]
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NeilHicks wrote a new diary post: What’s Next for Egypt: “Mubarakism Without Mubarak”?
Mubarak has stepped down. But the question remains of whether this will change anything. This is a critical moment for the U.S. government to make clear its intention to support the Egyptian people —not the next despot. President Obama should now make it clear that the U.S. government will not support despotism —and take steps to bolster democratic reform for [...]
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NeilHicks wrote a new diary post: Egyptian Tear Gas “Made in USA”?
Help ask how this happened—and more—in upcoming Congressional hearing. Last week we saw the Egyptian police throw tear gas at protesters. Little did we know that those canisters were “Made in the USA.” As everyday life begins to resume in Egypt, there are lingering questions about what happened, how it happened, and what’s next. A Congressional committee is tackling [...] -
NeilHicks wrote a new diary post: A Welcome Shift in the Obama Administration’s Rhetoric on Human Rights and Democracy in the Middle East
On Monday, as tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to demand a change in their autocratic, unresponsive and increasingly corrupt government, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a statement that has caused dismay and consternation among supporters of a more democratic Egypt. Apparently taken aback by unexpected events in the streets of [...]
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NeilHicks wrote a new diary post: Lack of a Consistent U.S. Message on Human Rights and Democracy Fuels Unrest in the Arab World
The tumultuous events in Tunisia last week have almost vanished from the newspapers as mass protests against the repressive rule of U.S. ally President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt have seized the headlines. The stakes for U.S. foreign policy are much greater in Egypt, a much larger, much more strategically important country than Tunisia, but the [...]
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NeilHicks wrote a new diary post: When Will U.S. Policy Match Administration Rhetoric?
While it was encouraging to see Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner continuing to call for political reform in Egypt in Saturday’s Washington Post it seems reasonable to ask whether Posner’s piece might not be too little too late as the administration’s response to the sham parliamentary elections conducted in Egypt at the end of November. [...]
