I belong to a discussion (or is it debating?) group. We recently had a debate on the Arab Spring – good or bad?
Here are some of the sources I used for the debate:
- CFR: Demistyfying the Arab Spring – puts the Arab Spring in a historical perspective
- CFR: Will Oil Drown the Arab Spring? Discusses the apparent incompatibility between oil and democracy
- The Unbreakable Muslim Brotherhood gives a historical background on the Muslim Brotherhood and discusses its sect-like structures and organization. Surprisingly, omits to mention Sadat’s assassination and Said al Qtab, the theorist of violent jihad
- Le Temps: Charia, mode d’emploi, Boris Mabillard, 27 Oct 2011
- El Pais: El Islam no es la solución, Lluís Bassets, 27 Oct 2011
- El Pais: Islam y democracia, Antonio Elorza, 1 Nov 2011
- El Pais: El islamismo avanza en la nueva Libia, Juan Miguel Muñoz, 1 Nov 2011
- Wikipedia: Theocracy
- Wikipedia: Caliphate
- Wikipedia: The Muslim Brotherhood
- Wikipedia: Sharia
- Wikipedia: Islamic state
- Wikipedia: Arab Spring
Additional material on The Economist: Mapping the Arab world shows an interactive map, with information on Arab League members. Lluis Bassets writes in El País about the preliminary results of the elections following the Arab Spring, largely blaming western imprevidence for not preparing and helping the Arab world in its transition. Without disputing his expertise, I am not sure I can agree with his conclusions, but it’s an interesting contribution to the debate: Aterrizajes de emergencia
Olivier Roy is always an excellent source for Islam and the Arab world, although I did not find any specific writings on the Arab Spring – he seems to be still studying the subject, he is a professor, not a journalist.
Update 13 December: I have found, at last, an interview (in French) with Olivier Roy. In a nutshell, he believes that religious conservatism is compatible with democracy, citing as an example the Christian Democrats in Europe. Well, we wanted to believe that when Khomeini came to power in Iran – we are still waiting for democracy there. Time will tell, of course.
Glad to learn about your sources.