Wheelchairs in Liberation Squares Published: 22 February 2021 Essay In February 2011, a protest movement built in Iraq but it was not until the October 2019 protests that the country marked a turning point, writes Ahmed Saadawi. In his essay, he examines the interaction/interplay between progressive and populist forces, starting with the protests against Saddam Hussein in Southern Iraq in 1991 until the recent uprisings. By Ahmed Saadawi
The Nayf: A Short Story about Complaint and Dignity in Algeria Published: 11 February 2021 Essay On February 10, 2019, Bouteflika announced his fifth presidential candidacy, and six days later protests erupted in Algeria: the Revolution of Smiles. The protagonists of Salah Badis' short story meet in front of a dysfunctional ATM in one of Algiers' richest neighborhoods, and a conversation between strangers unfolds. By Salah Badis
The Yemeni Revolution: Dignity Passed This Way Published: 3 February 2021 Essay In the face of the terrible war and famine in Yemen, Bushra al-Maktari struggles to recall the hopeful beginnings of the revolution. Still, her spiritual retrospective zooms in on a concept that is also central to the Yemeni revolution: dignity. By Bushra al-Maktari
A Permanent Temporariness Published: 20 January 2021 Essay January 25th marks the beginning of the Egyptian revolution of 2011, which has been followed by a counter-revolution that continues to this day. More and more political and cultural actors end up in prison or flee into exile. As part of our series “Reminiscence of the future”, Alia Mossallam illuminates the inner spaces of the revolution, where fear and courage, kindness and monstrosity are inherently close to one another. By Alia Mossallam
10 Years of Arab Revolutions: Giving up has no future Published: 15 January 2021 Scrollytelling Our trilingual scroll story project: Three stories from Egypt, Syria and Tunisia show that 10 years after they began, the revolutions continue - despite the immense strain and sometimes violent setbacks from the old forces. After all, giving up means dying.
Files from a Revolution Gone Rotten Published: 11 January 2021 Essay Tunisia is often deemed the main success story of the “Arab Spring” after long-term dictator Ben Ali was ousted ten years ago. But in the first contribution of our series “Reminiscence of the future”, Rim Benrejb writes about a revolutionary spirit that is in danger of falling asleep, patriarchal and state violence, and the impossibility of discussing all of this with one's own father. By Rim Benrejb
The European Union and its Southern Neighbourhood Published: 20 September 2016 The big challenge facing the EU is how it can reconcile its new policy of promoting stabilisation and security in the Middle East with human rights and democratisation. By Judy Dempsey
Arab Spring: What remains of the revolution? Published: 6 June 2016 Five years after the start of the Arab Spring, the optimism of the disillusionment has given way. Given the never-ending violence, the return to authoritarian forms of rule or even failing states the "Arabellion" is considered a failure.
Morocco: Democracy still a dream? Published: 19 February 2016 Five years after the democratic upheaval Morocco is closing down spaces for civic and human rights. By Soufyane Fares, Anja Hoffmann and Dorothea Rischewski