Tag: Arab Spring

Arab League Threatens Syria with Sanctions

Two weeks ago the Syrian government agreed to ends its crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, a development I was skeptical of.  I hoped that the Syrian government was legitimately ready to end the violence, but worried that President al-Assad’s history of broken peace agreements was a sign that he was not going to commit to a …

Continue reading

Share

No-Fly Zone for Syria?

As you may recall, I wrote a post over the summer about Responsibility to Protect and the Arab Spring.  In this post I discussed the intervention in Libya and how the creation of a “no-fly zone” was a manifestation of this RtoP.   I also discussed the reasons why RtoP was not going to be invoked …

Continue reading

Share

Responsibility to Protect and the Arab Spring

We all know that the no-fly zone and military action in Libya is ongoing, but what few people know is that the action was undertaken using the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and as such is fairly controversial.  The United Nations enacted Responsibility to Protect (RtoP or R2P) during the 2005 UN World Summit as a …

Continue reading

Share

Ramadan: New Hope or New Obstacle?

August 1st will mark the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, as well as a new obstacle for the countries involved in the Arab Spring.  Ramadan, for those of you not on top of Muslim practices, is a month-long fast during which devout Muslims cannot eat or drink during the daylight.  The fast is …

Continue reading

Share

The Arab Spring Reaches Eastern Europe

It seems that the revolutionary spirit of the Arab Spring has spread from North Africa and the Middle East all the way to troubled Belarus in Eastern Europe.  Belarus has been called “Europe’s Last Dictatorship” ever since 1994, when the “Last Dictator” Alexander Lukashenko came to power in a highly contested election.  In a distinct …

Continue reading

Share