Spring 2011 Critical Thinking Research on Middle East Revolutions

WANTED: A Grand Strategy for America

Ferguson, Niall. “WANTED: A Grand Strategy for America.” Niallferguson.com Harvard University, 14 February 2011. Web. 16 March 2011.

Link: http://www.niallferguson.com/site/FERG/Templates/ArticleItem.aspx?pageid=237

Summary: Niall Ferguson’s article begins with Otto von Bismarck’s handling of the revolutionary wave of mid-19th-century German nationalism and then Niall goes on to current day and claims that Obama failed at adequately handling the Egyptian Revolution. From there he goes on to say that “no president can be expected to be omniscient” and that other presidents have failed to handle some foreign affairs. The article then returns to the current crisis in Egypt and Niall concludes with the statement that Obama essentially has no plan.

Caitlin Pallai

How Revolutions Happen: Patterns from Iran to Egypt

Almond, Dr. Mark. “How Revolutions Happen: Patterns from Iran to Egypt.” BBC.com. British Broadcasting Company. 13 February 2011. Web. 16 March 2011.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12431231

Summary: Dr. Mark Almond talks about several revolutions throughout history such as the Iranian Revolution, Tiananmen Square, the Ukraine Revolution, the Egyptian Revolution, etc. By comparing these revolutions, Dr. Almond makes the point that there are certain recurring elements of a revolution and Dr. Almond believes the most substantial element that causes revolution would be that “Violent death has been the most common catalyst for radicalizing discontent in the revolutions of the last 30 years.” (He gives this as one of the causes of Egypt's revolution, including the longevity of the regime.)

Caitlin Pallai

Credit the Egyptian People for the Egyptian Revolution

Zunes, Dr. Stephen. "Credit the Egyptian People for the Egyptian Revolution." Stephenzunes.org. 17 February 2011. Web. 3 March 2011.

Link:http://stephenzunes.org/category/topic/egypt/ (And then click on title of the article, which directs you to another site)

Summary: Dr. Stephen Zunes argues that the true credit for the Egyptian revolution lies with the people not the military, United States, the internet and WikiLeaks, the Muslim Brotherhood, or a spontaneous reaction to the Tunisian Revolution. Furthermore, the revolution highlights the power of non-violent protest.

Caitlin Pallai

The Egyptian Protests Are a Many Constituencied Thing

Engler, Mark. “The Egyptian Protest Are a Many Constituencied Thing.” Fpif.org. Foreign Policy in Focus. 11 February 2011. Web. 20 March 2011.

Link: http://www.fpif.org/blog/the_egyptian_protests_are_a_many_constituencied_thing

Summary: Mark Engler argues that the Egyptian protests are decentralized, not controlled by any single figurehead or political party, and are made up of everyday citizens. As such, he goes on to say that the Egyptian Revolution isn't simply chaos, as others seem to think, but rather something that was a long time coming.

Caitlin Pallai

Egyptian Voters Approve Constitutional Changes

MacFarquhar, Neil. "Egyptian Voters Approve Constitutional Changes." nytimes.com New York Times, 20 March 2011. Web. 21 March 2011.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/world/middleeast/21egypt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Summary: Most Egyptians voted and approved a referendum of constitutional changes on Sunday. This action will lead to elections for a new leader; however, there is concern that the Muslim Brotherhood and religion crept into the voting process.

Caitlin Pallai

Egypt: Relive the Revolution

Haddad, Mohammed and Gregg Caristrom. "Egypt Relive the Revolution." Aljazeera.net. 06 March 2011. Web. 22 March 2011.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/03/2011368587809435.html

Summary: This interactive time-line includes Aljazeera's top news stories for each day of the 18 long revolution. (Article topics range from Mubarak's response to the revolution to what Egypt will do next.)

Caitlin Pallai

Columbia Discovery Service

Cheterian, Vicken. "Columbia Discovery Service." CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online. Feb. 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.

<http://www.ciaonet.org/pbei/gcsp/0021275/f_0021275_17683.pdf>

Summary: This article discusses two of what the author considers the "main causes of the Egyptian revolution," which are socioeconomic factors (high unemployment rates especially among young people and rising costs of food) as well as ineffective and corrupt government that cannot face the other issues.

Breanne Flynn

Egypt Opens Up Political Space

"Egypt Opens up Political Space - Africa - Al Jazeera English." AJE - Al Jazeera English. 13 Mar. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2011. .

<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/20113138251454812.html>

Summary: This is an al-Jazeera article written about the proposed Egyptian constitutional amendments which have since been ratified. The single article taken by itself is now kind of irrelevant and outdated, but we should definitely keep checking al-Jazeera because they report so frequently on the topic and have very reliable and up-to-date information.

Breanne Flynn

Executive Order--Libya

"Executive Order--Libya | The White House." Home | The White House. 25 Feb. 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/25/executive-order-libya

Summary: In wanting to find out what the United State's current position is on the Middle East revolutions, I went to the White House website and examined the Executive Orders. Currently there is no order out about Egypt, but President Obama has issued statements that we are unfavorable to the government in Libya and the devastation it has wrecked on its citizens. This is interesting because the order talks about Colonel Qadhafi being unnecessarily violent, and maybe the United States does not feel that the Egyptian government has reached the same extent to warrant interference. Or maybe their are other political factors involved.

Breanne Flynn

Social Media Sparked, Accelerated Egypt's Revolutionary Fire

Gustin, Sam. "Social Media Sparked, Accelerated Egypt’s Revolutionary Fire | Epicenter | Wired.com." Wired.com. 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.

<http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/02/egypts-revolutionary-fire/>

Summary: This article from Wired magazine addresses Facebook's role in the Egyptian revolution. It was my first exposure to Wael Ghonim, the creator of the revolution's original Facebook page who speaks about how the page helped organize people, but the concerns and want for revolution were already with the Egyptian people.

Breanne Flynn

Islamic Mobilization: Social Movement Theory and Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood

Munson, Ziad. "Islamic Mobilization: Social Movement Theory and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood." The Sociological Quarterly. Blackwell Publishing on Behalf of the Midwest Sociological Society, Autumn 2001. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.

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Summary: This article helped trace the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and mostly focused on their period of rapid expansion between the 1930s and 1950s. It was slightly outdated for the topic that we are considering, but if we want to examine the Muslim Brotherhood's role at all in today's context, I thought it would be necessary to take a look at their past and this article definitely depicted their basic structure and their rise to their current status.

Breanne Flynn

Revolution, Delayed

Massimo Calabresi, et al. "Revolution, Delayed." Time 177.7 (2011): 30-36. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2011..

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=13&sid=95777edd-0800-4956-afdc-c8c43de83346%40sessionmgr4&vid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=58585913

Summary: In addition to addressing the revolution more from the perspective of Egyptians living through it, this article also addressed the current government; and now that Mubarak is out of power, what his right-hand man, Suleiman is doing differently or not doing to control the revolution and/or alleviate the concerns of the people.

Breanne Flynn

The Facebook Freedom Fighter

Giglio, Mike. "THE FACEBOOK FREEDOM FIGHTER." Newsweek 157.8 (2011): 14-17. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=13&sid=95777edd-0800-4956-afdc-c8c43de83346%40sessionmgr4&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=581502383

Summary: This article profiles Google executive Wael Ghonim who is credited with starting the Egyptian revolution on Facebook. Though he had originally planned to keep his identity a secret and under a pseudonym, he was temporarily imprisoned, and once released, everyone knew his name. He stresses that the revolution is really with the people, and that Facebook just helped facilitate. He is NOT the leader of this revolution, nor does he believe there is one. This is a collective effort from Egyptians who are sharing many of the same grievances and can now come together to voice their opposition to the current rule in their country.

Breanne Flynn

The Big Test for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Mirghani, Osman. "The Big Test for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood." Asharq Alawsat (2011): n. pag. Web. 20 Mar 2011.

<http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=24391>.

Summary: This article focuses on the Muslim Brotherhood and how important it's reaction to the Egyptian Revolution is. If the Muslim Brotherhood reacts peacefully then it will finally prove to the world that Islam and Democracy can go hand in hand. However, if the Brotherhood decides to take over the revolution then it will prove to the world that it is not a changed organization and that its new "peaceful" stance is just an act. The Egyptian Revolution is where the organization will prove itself.

Brenna Greene

Which path will Egypt choose?

Mirghani, Osman. "Which path will Egypt choose?." Asharq Alawsat (2011) Web. 21 Mar 2011.

<http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=24173>

Summary: This article focuses on what path Egypt should chose next. Among the recommendations are having the military stay out of the governmental process and having the government bring in independent experts that can help guide the government in the correct direction. The article offers hope for Egypt as it sees the core values of the revolution as Egyptians looked out for each other during the toughest times. The article also recognizes that the hardest part of the revolution is to come as change is the hardest.

Brenna Greene

Saving the Egyptian revolution

"Saving the Egyptian revolution. " Daily News Egypt 4 Mar. 2011, ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2011.

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=2283168791&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1300867575&clientId=10553

Summary: This article says that Egypt must have a government that combines secular and Islam because if it doesn't then the country will break out into civil war. The article also calls for the US to offer free trade in order to enable the economy and calls for the army to stay out of the way of the new government because if they don't then the old regime will resurface.

Brenna Greene

Great Egyptian revolution and the future road map

"Great Egyptian revolution and the future road map. " Daily News Egypt 18 Feb. 2011, ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Web. 21 Mar. 2011

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=2270590031&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1300867457&clientId=10553

Summary: This article was incredibly interesting because it provided an anti- American perspective. The article called for the U.S. to stay out of the process of making a new Egyptian government and looked upon the Muslim Brotherhood as a good institution. It also called for many changes in Egypt that must be done immediately under the new government including freedom of the press and creating an elections commission.

Brenna Greene

Uniting Egypt's Opposition

Abaza, Khairi. "Uniting Egypt's Opposition: Who are the protestors and what do they want?" Foreignaffairs.com. 9 February 2011. Web. 26 March 2011.

Link: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67371/khairi-abaza/uniting-egypts-opposition

Summary: "Egypt’s various reform factions share a belief in an orderly transition to representative government but have wildly divergent political ideologies. How will these groups coexist in the post-Mubarak era?"

Caitlin Pallai

Egypt Protests Show American Foreign-Policy Folly

Kinzer, Stephen. "Egypt Protests Show American Foreign-Policy Folly." Newsweek.com. 28 January 2011. Web. 26 March 2011.

Link: http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/28/egypt-protests-show-american-foreign-policy-folly.html

Summary: In this article Stephen Kinzer argues that with revolution erupting throughout the Middle East, the United States must adopt a new foreign policy and that "Never has it been clearer that the U.S. needs to reassess its long-term Middle East strategy. It needs new approaches and new partners." (If the U.S. doesn't, then the consequences could be damaging.)

Caitlin Pallai