All posts by Nir Boms

05May/08

About Arabs, Numbers and Democracy: How do Arabs Really Feel About U.S. Policy in the Middle East?

By Michael Meunier and Nir Boms

In the Arab world, where divergent opinions are almost as rare as changes in leadership, and where free speech is a luxury enjoyed only by a precious few, public opinion polls tend to have interesting results. For example, the Arab-American Institute, a Washington-based think tank, recently conducted a poll that revealed an overwhelming majority of Arabs hold unfavorable views of the United States. While the results of the poll were not surprising, especially given the ongoing situation in Iraq, the motives behind it were extremely questionable.

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04May/08

Egyptian politics

 

By Nir Boms and Benjamin Balint
Published March 2, 2007

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CAIRO

. — Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Egypt’s leading democracy activist, hangs two photographs in his modest office at the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies in Cairo. One shows him with Vice President Dick Cheney at the White House; the other is a portrait of Hezbollah’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. This juxtaposition tellingly captures some the current state of mind of Egypt’s pro-democracy opposition: insecure and not certain where to turn to. Continue reading

04May/08

A ‘new’ and ‘open’ Egypt?

 

Washington Times

By Nir Boms
Published December 28, 2005

The Middle East appears to be changing. Its dictators are no longer immune from international justice. Their palaces are exposed to international pressure and their reign to increasing scrutiny by the people who already showed us that they can march in the streets of Lebanon, Egypt and even Syria. Elections have taken place not only in Iraq and the Palestinian Authority but also in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt – and that list goes on. A report about the new configuration of the parliament in Egypt appears almost natural in the western media. Continue reading

29Apr/08

An Unfulfilled Egyptian Promise

 
 
 

Nir Boms and Michael Meunier

Barely a month following President Hosni Mubarak predictable re-election, Egypt is gearing itself to a full campaign mode again, as candidates already register for the November legislative polls. The September 7th elections in Egypt, the first ever “open” election have come and gone in the Middle East news cycle, clearing the way for another round of assassinations in Lebanon, another escalation in Gaza, another devastating suicide attack in Iraq. The headlines have told us about the “launch” of a “New path of progress for Egypt”. But words and promises are cheap in the Middle East. Reality has its own pace in mind.

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