US to fund Libya Contact Group
May 5, 2011 FOREIGN AFFAIRS Leave a comment
(RTTNews) – The Libya Contact Group, comprising of 22 countries and six international organizations, has agreed to set up a temporary fund for helping rebels fight the autocratic regime of Moammar Qadhafi in the north African country, officials said Thursday.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Group’s members, including the United States, its European allies and Arab nations, held in Rome to discuss the developments in Libya. The United States was represented at the meeting by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton…
…In addition to the loans and donations provided to the rebels by the international community, the fund agreed would also include Libyan state assets frozen overseas. It is estimated that assets of the Libyan government and senior members of the Qadhafi regime frozen in the US and the European Union are worth about $60 billion.
Clinton said the Obama administration was attempting to release more than $30 billion Libyan assets it had frozen, adding that Washington wants “to tap some portion of those assets owned by Qadhafi and the Libyan government in the United States, so we can make those funds available to help the Libyan people”.
“We need peace – We need to tell stories”
May 3, 2011 ARTS & CULTURE, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Video Leave a comment
FILM FESTIVAL: RWANDA – A Documentary Film
You’ve got to check out and financially support this unique, wonderful documentary film project.
Check out the project, trailer, and Kickstarter campaign. Film synopsis:
In 1994, the world turned its back on the genocide in Rwanda. Rising from those atrocities, a new generation of committed, passionate filmmakers has emerged wielding movies in their own language – Kinyarwanda – providing hope through the power of “story” as a healing force. Filmed over 3 years, FILM FESTIVAL: RWANDA portrays five of these modern Rwandan filmmakers struggling to pursue their dreams and restore trust, truth, and dignity through cinema. For 10 days each year, they travel to rural villages and project local films on a giant inflatable screen delighting audiences, many of whom have never seen a movie, let alone one made in Rwanda, about Rwanda, and by Rwandans.
World Press Photo Winners
February 12, 2011 ARTS & CULTURE, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Photography Leave a comment
Here is a sample of World Press Photo contest winners recently announced. The very first photo in the gallery below won photo of the year, and was shot by Jodi Bieber for Time Magazine. The photo shows Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old woman from Oruzgan province in Afghanistan, whose face was mutilated after she fled her husband’s house, complaining of violent treatment. The Taliban captured her and administered their version of “justice” by cutting off her nose and ears. She was later rescued by aid workers and the US military. Bibi Aisha now lives in the US.
Select any single photo to click through the gallery, and be sure to see all of the World Press Photo winners and runner-ups here.
A Family Affair
February 11, 2011 Egypt, FOREIGN AFFAIRS Leave a comment
20-minutes after the Mubarak resignation announcement, Egyptian filmmaker Ramy Rizkallah filmed (w/ what looks like a 5d) multiple locations in Cairo. Raw footage… no talking heads… and such a clear sense that this is a family celebration.
Good coup or bad coup?
February 11, 2011 Egypt, FOREIGN AFFAIRS Leave a comment
The WH just postponed Obama’s statement. Everyone is asking… is it a good coup or a bad coup? Here are profiles of the members of the Supreme Council.
Multiple African commentators are tweeting. “After #egypt Is the rest of #africa listening and watching?”
Also critical to note: last night’s statement by Mubarak was made in defiance of the Egyptian military:
<blockquote>Maj. Gen. Safwat El-Zayat, a former senior official of Egypt’s General Intelligence and member of the Egyptian Council of Foreign Affairs, asserted, in an interview with Ahram Online, that the address delivered by President Mubarak last night was formulated against the wishes of the armed forces, and away from their oversight. He claimed that Vice Preisdent Omar Suleiman’s address, which came on the heels of Mubarak’s address, was equally in defiance of the armed forces and away from its oversight.
Attributing this information to his own sources within the Egyptian military, Maj. Gen. El-Zayat said there was now a deep cleavage between the armed forces, represented in its Supreme Council, and the Presidential authority, represented in both President Mubarak and his Vice President, Omar Suleiman.
According to El-Zayat, communiqué #2 issued this morning by the Supreme Armed Forces Council was not, as many people in Egypt and elsewhere understood it, an affirmation of the addresses of Mubarak and Suleiman, but rather an attempt to avoid an open conflict, while at the same time underlining that the army will act as guarantor for the transition to full democracy. He adivced that people should listen carefully to the anticipated communique.</blockquote>
Against/For US Interests & Twitter Upates
February 11, 2011 Egypt, FOREIGN AFFAIRS Leave a comment
While there is no doubt a degree of soft-power street cred the US may gain, I’m impressed by the fact that even though virtually no one at State or the WH has felt that changes in Egypt will better US interests, Obama’s statement released last night was truly historic. Has there ever been a US President who so quickly and publicly aligned the US against a long-standing ally?
While it’s clear that some comms bungling and mixed messages confused many, and the WH and State were in conflict over how to respond, Obama did land the plane before Mubarak left office–to publicly and unambiguously support the democratic protest movement.
Other news on Twitter:
@thelede Army to Fire Cabinet and Parliament, Al Arabiya Says http://nyti.ms/hBr7hd #Egypt
@Max_Fisher February 11 is the day on 1979 that the Shah’s regime fell and on 1990 that Nelson Mandela walked free
@bencnn Thank god cairo back to normal. Blaring horns, crazy traffic, people everywhere!!!
@justimage Soldiers crying, barricades around tahrir have come down. Chants of “freedom!”
@SultanAlQassemi After 25 years of waiting in the shadows to become President of Egypt, Omar Suleiman only lasted as Vice President for 14 days.
@sandmonkey To everyone who rediculed us, opposed us, wanted us to compromise, i say: YOU ARE WELCOME :) TODAY WE ALL CELEBRATE!!!
@ibnkafka This just in from Morocco: King to announce he will not stand at the next elections and pledges his son won’t succeed him
@Pulitzercenter ElBaradei proposes transitional period of 1 year under a provisional constitution on @AJEnglish
@avinunu BBC Arabic: Switzerland has frozen Mubarak’s bank accounts.
@aidnews Helicopters seen taking off from Mubarak palace http://dlvr.it/GLwmg
@MOSA’AB ELSHAMY Hmm, what do I do with my tent now? E-bay? :) #tahrir
@TheElders Brothers & sisters of #Egypt, u have given the world the most precious gift: the belief that right will prevail -Desmond Tutu
History made
February 11, 2011 Egypt, FOREIGN AFFAIRS Leave a comment
The deafening sounds of victory have erupted on the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Suez… all over Egypt… all over the world… as Mubarak steps down and (apparently) the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces takes over. A 30 year rule ends in a 30 second statement.
Words fail. Watch the live-stream:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish
Crisis for the Egyptian Military
February 10, 2011 Egypt, FOREIGN AFFAIRS Leave a comment
UPDATE: Fareed Zakaria on CNN International says that Mubarak’s speech makes it clear that a majority of the Generals have sided w/ Mubarak, and wonders if in fact they are baiting the protestors.
The one axiom that generates almost universal agreement is as Egypt’s military goes so goes the country. Many have described Egypt as a military with a country attached to it. There are strong ties between the US and Egyptian officer corps, and so of course far more is occurring through back channels than anyone will likely know for a long time. This is perhaps over simplified, but the following analysis from Stratfor lays things out for plain viewing. My own two sense is that Mubarak and company are trying to generate a reason for a massive and bloody crackdown. The next 24 hours will be decisive and it all rests on who the strongest factions in the military ultimately side with.
The Egyptian Military’s Options
February 10, 2011The decision by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak not to resign seems to have shocked both the Egyptian military and Washington. CIA Director Leon Panetta spoke earlier as if his resignation was assured and a resolution to the crisis was guaranteed. Sources in Cairo spoke the same way. How the deal came apart, or whether Mubarak decided that transferring power to Vice President Omar Suleiman was sufficient cannot be known. What is known is that Mubarak did not do what was expected.
This now creates a massive crisis for the Egyptian military. Its goal is not to save Mubarak but to save the regime founded by Gamal Abdel Nasser. We are now less than six hours from dawn in Cairo. The military faces three choices. The first is to stand back, allow the crowds to swell and likely march to the presidential palace and perhaps enter the grounds. The second choice is to move troops and armor into position to block more demonstrators from entering Tahrir Square and keep those in the square in place. The third is to stage a coup and overthrow Mubarak.
The first strategy opens the door to regime change as the crowd, not the military, determines the course of events. The second creates the possibility of the military firing on the protesters, which have not been anti-military to this point. Clashes with the military (as opposed to the police, which have happened) would undermine the military’s desire to preserve the regime and the perception of the military as not hostile to the public.
That leaves the third option, which is a coup. Mubarak will be leaving office under any circumstances by September. The military does not want an extraconstitutional action, but Mubarak’s decision leaves the military in the position of taking one of the first two courses, which is unacceptable. That means military action to unseat Mubarak as the remaining choice.
One thing that must be borne in mind is that whatever action is taken must be taken in the next six or seven hours. As dawn breaks over Cairo, it is likely that large numbers of others will join the demonstrators and that the crowd might begin to move. The military would then be forced to stand back and let events go where they go, or fire on the demonstrators. Indeed, in order to do the latter, troops and armor must move into position now, to possibly overawe the demonstrators.
Thus far, the military has avoided confrontation with the demonstrators as much as possible, and the demonstrators have expressed affection toward the army. To continue that policy, and to deal with Mubarak, the options are removing him from office in the next few hours or possibly losing control of the situation. But if this is the choice taken, it must be taken tonight so that it can be announced before demonstrations get under way Feb. 11 after Friday prayers.
It is of course possible that the crowds, reflecting on Mubarak’s willingness to cede power to Suleiman, may end the crisis, but it does not appear that way at the moment, and therefore the Egyptian military has some choices to make.
Sudan!
February 7, 2011 FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Sudan Leave a comment
Incredible news from the BBC Africa:
South Sudan backs independence – results
Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly for independence, election officials have confirmed. They said nearly 99% of the voters in January’s referendum were in favour of dividing Africa’s biggest country. Earlier, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir again said he would accept the outcome of the vote…
“Those who voted for unity were 44,888, that is, 1.17%. Those who voted for separation were 3,792,518, that is, 98.83%,” commission head Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil said.
The BBC’s Peter Martell in the southern capital Juba, says some people have spent most of the day getting ready to celebrate the announcement. “Now I am a first class citizen in my own country,” housewife Abiong Nyok told the BBC. One woman – a northerner – cried after the announcement, saying she had relatives in the south, the BBC’s James Copnall in Khartoum says…
The World IS Watching
February 5, 2011 Egypt, FOREIGN AFFAIRS Leave a comment
I can’t help but be deeply moved by the stories and images of heroism, dignity, and grace that have spontaneously erupted in Egypt. And yet I also can’t help but hear the dark, cynical whisper that says it ultimately won’t matter. And then the recent examples and similarities of the protests in Burma, Pakistan, and Iran turn the whisper into a shout.
What I find captivating about the events in Egypt is the inevitable clash between the power of mostly universal and profoundly human elements on the street VS the interests of those who ultimately wield power–the state, military, and financial elite (and I do not use the word ‘elite’ negatively).
You can perhaps see this juxtaposed in two photographs:
Egyptian Christians form a human barrier to protect Egyptian Muslims while they pray. 2011.
Beneath a photo of George Washington, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak meets with President Obama. 2010.
Of course the questions of values, principles, and state interests regularly clash. What I’m looking for in the Egyptian revolution (and perhaps in other states to come?) is whether or not external actors (primarily the US) will find a way to align principles and interests.
We would not be pumping billions into Egypt if not for Israel and oil, and there are actors in those domains who will continue to push for whatever real-politik appeasement ensures the security of both, no matter if it causes further despair to the average Egyptian citizen.
I am no expert in the intricacies of internal Egyptian affairs (unlike so many commentators in the Western media!), but it is clear that the US will see its reputation erode even further if we do not use whatever leverage we have to support the Egyptian street. Because this time, the familiar scenes of street protests in a huge Arab city have not been filled with shouts of ‘death to America’ and the burning of flags. The scenes on the street in Egypt have made hardened journalists, politicians, and average citizens everywhere cheer and weep.
The world is watching, and they’re not just watching Egypt… they’re also watching the US. US politicians have talked for too many decades of ‘spreading democracy’ to other nations, and now that everyone has seen an unsubdued passion for democratic freedom erupt in Egypt, can we stand any increase in the cynicism that already exists if we don’t (or won’t) find a way to help real democratic freedom to flourish… on its own terms?
And of course it will be messy, and imperfect–perfection is rarely the point of any human endeavor, and it is most certainly not the point of politics.
And yet we all know it’s possible. It’s possible.
The world watched the death of Neda Agha-Soltan in Iran, and thousands across the world wept, marched, raged, wrote, and prayed. And has anything changed in Iran? Have Neda’s concerns–and those of hundreds of thousands in Iran–been met?
Of course not, everyone says.
I am not naive; nor am I an idealist when it comes to the uses of US power. But I can’t help but compare the movements in Iran and Egypt and ask the question… we have leverage in Egypt that we did/do not have in Iran; will that leverage be used to give average citizens there, here, and the world over, any reason whatsoever to finally silence the cynicism?
The world IS watching.
