Did Al Jazeera tweak the whole narrative of Arab World Protests?

Despite the network’s spectacular converge of the Egyptian protests, one can’t help but suspect its impartiality given that it is owned by a 185-year-old royal family that has friends and enemies all over the Arab World. Of the two major protests going on the Middle East, why is Al Jazeera (and the world) covering one more than the other.

Al Jazeera has come a long way from the time when it was just known for showing Osama Bin Laden tapes. During the Egyptian crisis the entire international media, including BBC World and Reuters, were at least a step behind the Arab news network. At one point, I think, even Twitter was panting with all the running it had to do to keep with Al Jazeera. Indisputably the historic success at Tahrir Square does have a vital contribution from the live 24/7 coverage by the channel.

The country with two governments nationalized/robbed its banks

What do you do when international sanctions create a major cash flow crisis in the country and the banks refuse to give out salaries to your government employees? Simple, just send some men with guns to take over the banks and claim them nationalized. At least that’s what Ivory Coast president dictator Laurent Gbagbo has done. 

US arming Afghan Civilians: A very bad idea

One of the most underrated stories of last week (overshadowed by the roar of thousands of people from Tahrir Square) was a new “experiment” by US forces to bring peace in Afghanistan that can be succinctly summarized in six words - let’s give Afghan civilian some guns. Yes, because what Afghanistan needs is more guns. Aimed at achieving US Military’s greatest strategic objective – get the hell out of Afghanistan – this scheme promises to be part of that long list: schemes that are totally going to blow up in US Military's face.

What is happening in Middle East now as protests continue in Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran and Libya

Yemeni President Ali Saleh

The protests in the Middle East are spreading like a wild fire threatening to engulf the whole region, check that, the whole world. After the success of Egypt protests, every capital from the Gulf of Eden to the Atlantic Coast is seeing at least some level of protests. I have put together a “what is going on where” brief to give you a quick snapshot of how this historical event is unfolding. If you haven’t already, read the previous two briefs (here and here) by this blog because this one tries not to repeat those points.

Egypt Protests: No democracy for Egypt in 2011, I am betting money on it

It’s official. I am willing to bet INR 5000/ US$ 100/ GBP 70 on the fact that Egypt shall not see democracy for any foreseeable future, despite eighteen days of spectacular struggle by the Egyptian people and the general euphoria that has taken over the world. You can post the name of your favorite charity on this blog’s Facebook page and if within the next eight months (i.e. 15 September 2011) free and fair elections (by international standards) are held in Egypt, I will donate the said amount of money to one of these charities. Some people may consider this bet to be in poor taste but I believe that certain amount of cynicism is exactly what is needed to be infused in the current narrative of the Egypt Protests.

Why Mubarak’s Fall unlikely to bring democracy in Egypt

Mubarak may be gone, but a spontaneous people’s revolution means lack of strength to negotiate with the new military government. Chances of democracy being instituted in the country remain slight because pressure of the protests has disintegrated.

About a decade ago, well-respected professor from Stanford, James Fearon, wrote an interesting paper “Why do some civil wars last so much longer than others?” (.pdf) explaining the length of Bosnian Crisis. He explained that in Bosnia the ethnic majority faced something called Commitment Problems. It logic goes like this: Party A (the majority) and Party B (the minority) are dividing country’s resources after independence. A promises to give B 20% of the resources if B lets A form the government. But once government is formed, A is stronger and able to suppress B, giving them only 10% instead of agreed 20. Hence, it is said that A faces Commitment Problems.

A good Mubarak joke

Joshua Keating’s blog at Foreign Policy had following joke on Mubarak:

Mubarak dies and meets Nasser and Sadat in the afterlife. They ask him, "Poison or parade?" (Conspiracy theorists allege Nasser was poisoned; Sadat was assassinated during a military parade.)

Mubarak shrugs and answers: "Facebook."

You can follow DoT on Twitter @DoT_Sandeep or Facebook facebook.com/dreamsofatypewriter

Military skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia flare up once again

On Friday, firing between Thai and Cambodian militaries erupted killing 4 and displacing more than 3000. The animosity between the two dates several decades, yet both have found a way to cooperated economically despite occasional flare-ups. May be others, like India-Pakistan or Israel-Palestine, can learn something from the Thai-Cambodian model.

Housekeeping Announcement

Just letting everyone know that I am travelling for this week, so the blog updates might be erratic.

PS: Please mail me if you have any leads or tips for stories that I can chase in Bangladesh, or any exotic food that I should try.

You can follow DoT on Twitter @DoT_Sandeep or Facebook facebook.com/dreamsofatypewriter

Infographic for all you need to know about Arab World Protests: Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Mauritania, Libya and Iran

Since things are heating up all over the Arab World and many countries are taking cue from the near-success of ongoing Egypt Protests, I put together an infographic to explain it all. Its a neat little summary of what is going on where as of today:

Note: if you find the font too small to read, click on the image to enlarge.

Related Posts:


Where did Mubarak go wrong?
Who is Mohamed ElBaradei?
A Somber Note on Egypt Protests
Vodafone suspends service in Egypt in an attempt to shutdown the protests
Military will be the key for Mubarak’s survival


You can follow DoT on Twitter @DoT_Sandeep or Facebook facebook.com/dreamsofatypewriter

Egypt: Did Mubarak's camel cavalry just charged the protesters?

As of a few minutes ago, it seems that a few men, riding on horses and camels(!) just charged the protesters on Tahrir Square, the focal point of ongoing Egypt Protests. Little is clear as of now, but reportedly about a hundred men and women have been injured in the ensuing stampede. If you are not doing it already, get the live update from Al Jazeera Live feed.

Until today, the protests, which are now involving millions of people, have been largely peaceful, to the extent that the protesters even organized a football match yesterday. But all that changed today when thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters (read: paid goons) started clashing with the protesters. As of now, the causalities are undetermined. Seems like the regime is getting desperate.

You can follow DoT on Twitter @DoT_Sandeep or Facebook facebook.com/dreamsofatypewriter

Egypt Protests: Where did Mubarak go wrong?

What did Mubarak do to lose his 29-year-old regime? Answer: he blinked first. Firing his cabinet on 28 January became the precipitating factor in his power’s demise.

Imagine if you are a dictator of a large Middle Eastern country. You have been ruling the place for about three decades and as it turns out, you are pretty good at it. You kept too much political dissidence at bay; survived six assassinations attempts; made a lot of money; kept the army happy; made friends with almost everyone in the world, including US, Israel, Libya and Saudi Arabia; made your son a viable candidate for succession. And then, all of a sudden, it’s all on the verge of disappearing because some Tunisian fruit vendor, who no one had ever heard of, decided to burn himself. At this point in your life, you have to wonder what went wrong.

Monthly Wrap-up: January 2011

Here is a quick summary of what you may have missed the last month:

The World. The protests that flared up in the entire Arab World, fuelled by the rising food prices, ended up creating a real possibility that Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year-old dictatorship in Egypt may come to an end. A US Military unit in Afghanistan bombed an entire village into oblivion. A suicide attack in Moscow Airport may weaken Putin’s political position. Chinese test of a new stealth fighter left US at loss for any official words. 

South Asia. In Nepal, the UN Mission, which was supposed to keep a check on Nepal’s two armies, was kicked out of the country. In India argument raged on whether or not to create the new state of Telengana, which may lead to Naxalism resurgence in that part of the country. And India continued to refuse to stand up to China.

Features. Umm… A funny one was the Top 10 Insanities of 2010 World Politics and another was 6 Suggestion to (unbelievably stupid) Right-Wing Terrorists in India. And then there was my sentimental note on the Egyptian Protests.

Hope you had a good month.

You can follow DoT on Twitter @DoT_Sandeep or Facebook facebook.com/dreamsofatypewriter