Last Saturday May 17th, amidst heavy fighting in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, civilians were told to leave town as troops prepared for a new assault on Islamist militias. These were not however part of the country's army but of the self-declared Libyan National Army, which includes some army and air force units led by …
Continue reading What’s the story, Morning Glory? Or how Libya finds itself on the verge of collapse
While two weeks ago Western intervention in Syria seemed imminent, today it merely stands as the second track after the diplomatic option both the US, Russia and Syria have embraced. This situation has lead many, including me, to draw parallels that somehow justify or refute the usefulness of an attack on the Syrian regime, the most likely comparisons being …
Continue reading Syria, Iraq, Kosovo and Libya: useless and hazardous comparisons.
Tamarrud (rebel yourself in Arabic), Egypt's most famous protest movement, the one that sparked the 30 June huge demonstrations that ultimately ousted Mohammed Morsi, has inspired several copycats in brethren countries. Which ones? The ones who already went through their (successful or not) "Arab Springs".The most glaring example is Tunisia, where the ouster of Morsi …
As of lately and since last summer, many world leaders and commentators alike have been urging Libyan leaders to move quickly on deciding the process whereby a new Constitution will be drafted. Everybody knew transition to democracy and rebuilding the country was going to be a huge endeavour, but nobody predicted such a Sisyphus' task, …
Discovering MENA and other thoughts 