Topics Syria
A New Quota System for Syria
The different quotas introduced in this analysis are meant to provide a more stable, progressive, and efficient future for Syria.
The Relevance of a Presidential Electoral System in Syria
Based on the political needs of Syria, a Presidential system is still the best for the future of the country. That said, people’s demands can best be met with a customized Presidential system.
An Anatomy of the Onset of Syria's Popular Uprising
The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs held a lecture series as part of the AUB Arab Uprisings Research Initiative that was launched under the aegis of the AUB Provost's office in December 2011. This open-ended, multi-sectoral initiative harnesses AUB's research, analysis and convening resources to engage constructively with the historic changes taking place across the Arab World. The lecture entitled: "An Anatomy of the Onset of Syr...
Stories of Freedom
Read this interesting personal account of Amjad Baiazy, the Syrian human rights and civil society activist, who was imprisoned by the Syrian authorities on May 12, 2011 and released on June 30, 2011. While in prison, Amajd Baiazy engaged in discussions with inmates on the myths and realities surrounding the Syrian revolution. In this personal account and analysis, Amjad Baiazy addresses the topics of sectarianism, start of the revolution in Daraa, role of Islamists and ‘conspiracy theories’....
Managing militarization in Syria
The most prominent and most troubling of the trends that have shaped the Syrian uprising over the past year is the militarization of the uprising and its transformation from a largely peaceful protest movement to a low-level insurgency dominated not by citizen activists but by a dangerous and uncoordinated array of armed opposition fighters. Dealing with this trend is the most urgent task facing the United States, the Arab League, the European Union, Turkey and the rest of the "Friends o...
Regional Perspectives on the ‘Dignity Revolutions
This policy paper provides unique perspectives from Middle Eastern activists who are part of popular protests across the region. The recommendations are based on their perspectives and addressed to the EU at large European Commission, the Dutch government and Non-Governmental Organisations in order for them to best support the democratic transitions in the region.These perspectives were the subject of lively and inspiring debates at...
BlueCoat: US technology surveilling Syrian citizens online
In the context of repression in the Middle East and North Africa, surveillance technology has played a key role in providing authoritarian regimes with the tools necessary to track citizens online. Among these companies, BlueCoat has proved to be the most efficient in helping the Syrian regime control every movement of Syrians on the Internet.
Regional Perspectives on the ‘Dignity Revolutions
This policy paper provides unique perspectives from Middle Eastern activists who are part of popular protests across the region. The recommendations are based on their perspectives and addressed to the EU at large European Commission, the Dutch government and Non-Governmental Organisations in order for them to best support the democratic transitions in the region.
Syria's crisis: A 'war of attrition' and a 'marathon', experts say
Read the interesting article of Ahram Online on the conference Emerging Spheres of Civil Engagement in Syria organised by Hivos, Arab Forum for Alternatives and University of Amsterdam on 24-25 October 2011 in Cairo.
The Syrian Uprising and the Power of Stories
On a daily basis scores of Syrian activists upload their YouTube footage of protests and the regime’s atrocities, hoping that someone will watch them, become outraged, and act in ways to support the uprising. Given the regime’s information blackout, a lot can be learned from these video snapshots. Yet otherwise the eerie silence from Syria has been deafening. Rarely are Syrian activists given a voice to express their grievances, wishes, desires, aspir...
What Support for the Protest Movement?
If the creeping massacre of the Syrian population is to be stopped, now is the time to send out an unambiguous message, warns Volker Perthes, expert on the Near East and director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs
Hivos Advices The Netherlands Advisory Council On International Affairs on Support to Democratic Reforms in the Middle East
As a reaction to popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, The Dutch Advisory Council On International Affairs (AIV) requested Hivos and other Dutch NGOs on 21st of April to advice it on how the Dutch government could support reforms, democratization processes and rule of law in the region. Today the 28th of June the Dutch parliament debates about the AIV advise entitled Reforms in the Arab Region: Opportunities for Democracy and Rule of Law (Dutch translation) as well as the res...
The Arab revolutions: an end to dogma
The popular uprisings in the Arab world are a great disaster for a radical camp led by Syria-Iran and long indulged by media such as al-Jazeera. A great opportunity follows, says Hazem Saghieh.
Newsletter Civil Society in West Asia, Issue 3
The uprisings in the Arab world had not even been in full swing before various political agendas scrambled to appriopriate them. Many opinions appear to be caught up in clichés and analyses colored by blatant attemps to only see self-serving and worn-out world perspectives confirmed. It is against this background that sobering and thorough academic research on the origins and nature of the Arab uprisings gains urgent value.Newsletter Civil Society in West Asia, Issue 3
The uprisings in the Arab world had not even been in full swing before various political agendas scrambled to appriopriate them. Many opinions appear to be caught up in clichés and analyses colored by blatant attemps to only see self-serving and worn-out world perspectives confirmed. It is against this background that sobering and thorough academic research on the origins and nature of the Arab uprisings gains urgent value.Working Paper 17: Authoritarianism and the Judiciary in Syria - ARABIC version
Working Paper 17 analyzes the role of the judiciary in Syria’s strongly authoritarian setting wherein ‘the rule by law’ serves as a tool of repression; qualities that have far-reaching implications for foreign assistance programs on judicial reform, the rule of law and reform generally. This is the Arabic version of the paper.
17: Authoritarianism and the Judiciary in Syria - ARABIC version
Working Paper 17 analyzes the role of the judiciary in Syria’s strongly authoritarian setting wherein ‘the rule by law’ serves as a tool of repression; qualities that have far-reaching implications for foreign assistance programs on judicial reform, the rule of law and reform generally. This is the Arabic version.
Observations on Dar’a: Local Roots of the Uprising
19/05/2011 Ruben Elsinga argues that we can learn from local perspectives in Dar'a when looking at the Syrian uprising. Dar’a indicates that the true nature of the uprisings sweeping through the Middle East is one in which local politics mix conspicuously with a wider call for greater freedom. Through an understanding of these local specificities one can get clues on how the uprising is going to pan out in Dar’a, Syria and the Middle East at large.
Newsletter Issue 3: Understanding-Not Appropriating- Arab Revolutions
Read issue 3 of the newsletter of Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia dedicated to Arab revolutions.
Perspectives:People’s Power
Perspectives - Political Analysis and Commentary from the Middle East is a publication series of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung’s offices in Beirut and Ramallah provides a platform for analysis and viewpoints of experts from the regionThe self-immolation of young and jobless Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid, being deprived of his vegetable stand and humiliated by the authorities, triggered popular movements and historic events in the Arab World completely unexpected...
Syrian Petition for Political Change: A Dramatic Missed Opportunity
Given the atrocities currently committed in Syria and the spectacularly bad press this generates for the regime, one would think that issuing an effective petition calling for political change in this country would be an easy task. All such a petition needs to do is to jump on the bandwagon of rapidly mounting protests and express the deeply felt anger across large sections of the Syrian population. In addition, any serious public appeal would demonstrate that there is a viable alternative to...
Middle Eastern Perspectives on the Revolutions
The Arab uprisings have surprised and stunned almost everyone in the world, including the revolutionaries themselves. The conventional wisdom until January 14th - the day of the fall of Ben Ali - both in the region and beyond - was that Arab autocrats are ‘here to stay’ and the region is doomed to be governed by authoritarian regimes. Yet ‘missions impossible’ have turned out to be possible: the power of the people ousted dictators Ben Ali and Mubarak. Despite current crackdown on popular pro...› read more...
Tags: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Civil Society in West Asia
Date: 18 April : Location: Doelenzaal, Library of the University of Amsterdam Singel 425, Amsterdam
Tags: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Civil Society in West Asia
Date: 18 April : Location: Doelenzaal, Library of the University of Amsterdam Singel 425, Amsterdam
Report Policy Seminar on Resilient Authoritarianism in Iran and Syria
On Tuesday, the Stimson Center hosted a discussion–organized by Knowledge Programme Civil Society of the Dutch organization Hivos that aims to gain insights on civic activism in authoritarian settings in Syria and Iran–on the future of non-democratic regimes in the Middle East and the policy implications of the unprecedented, and unexpected, recent popular uprisings in the region. Ellen Laipson, President and CEO of the Stimson Center made opening remarks and introduced Steve Heydemann,...
Publication: Policy Paper 2 Resilient Authoritarianism in the Middle East
While celebrating a historic turning point in Egypt and Tunesia, it is also clear that authoritarianism will remain a prominent feature of Middle East politics. The spectrum of regime types in the region will expand. It may even come to include democracies. Yet as the cases of Syria and Iran demonstrate, not all regimes will experience political openings. Eventhough the region might be transformed in the years ahead, the cases of Syria and Iran remind us that the political landscape of the Mi...