Wave of Unrest Rolls Into Gulf from the Wall Street Journal
"Protester Killed in Bahrain; Skirmishes in Yemen; Call for Rebel Executions in Iran"
Bahrain Protesters Take Control of Main Square from the Associated Press via AOL News
"Thousands of protesters poured into a main square in Bahrain's capital Tuesday in an Egypt-style rebellion that sharply escalated pressure on authorities as the Arab push for change gripped the Gulf for the first time."
Looks like Bahrain's up next.
Egypt-Inspired Protests Spread to Libya from CBS News
"Hundreds of Activists Call for Government's Ouster, Clash with Security Forces."
After Egypt, All Eyes Turn to Iran (Elspeth Reeve) from the Atlantic
"Iranian protesters were attacked with electric prods and tear gas by police as crowds of demonstrators swelled to the tens of thousands in Tehran Monday. The protests were the biggest in Iran in a year, The Wall Street Journal's Farnaz Fassihi reports, and made greater demands than the rallies in 2009 and early 2010 in response to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection. This time, people want not just Ahmadinejad gone, but also Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."
Or maybe Iran. I doubt it on Iran though. Ahmadinejad has already demonstrated that he's willing to go Tienanmen on his people and that the the Republican Guard is fully behind him. We can always hope though.
U.S. Follows Two Paths on Unrest in Iran and Bahrain from the Wall Street Journal
"The Obama administration has responded quite differently to two embattled governments that have beaten protesters and blocked the Internet in recent days to fend off the kind of popular revolt that brought down Egypt’s government."
In Iraq, Protests Over Torture and Secret Prisons Continue from the Atlantic
"As the world's eyes were fixed on the drama in Egypt last week, Human Rights Watch investigators in Iraq filed a depressingly familiar chapter in the country's recent history, making new allegations of torture and of a secret prison that they say is run by special counterterrorism forces who answer directly to the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "
Egypt, Tunisia … and Iran (Shibley Telhami) from the National Interest
"We need to think deeply about the meaning of the Egyptian uprising and its implications for American foreign policy. A good place to start is to reflect on three powerful conclusions of one of the key young organizers of the uprising, Wael Ghonim, as he was interviewed on Egyptian Dream TV and elsewhere since. First, this uprising is less about food and more about dignity. … Egyptians and Arabs want liberty and freedom from repressive regimes, but many fear imperialism and outside domination even more."
Popular Sovereignty Without a Made-in-U.S.A. Label (Paul Pillar) from the National Interest
"Not having the United States leading the democratic charge—despite the criticism the administration endured for supposedly being indecisive or behind the curve—is important because a made-in-U.S.A. label is one of the biggest impediments that any political project in the Middle East can have."
A Coup for Democracy? from the Economist
"My sense is that many Westerners were celebrating because masses of Egyptians were celebrating. Perhaps it is a measure of how strange the situation has become that Egyptians have responded with delirious rejoicing to what would otherwise be called a military coup. All the same, there are some hopeful signs.
Pharaoh Without a Mummy (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"One thing I can tell you about Egypt: It is not Las Vegas. What happens in Egypt does not stay in Egypt. For the last 30 years, that has been the bad news."
State Media: Mubarak Not Comatose, but Psychologically Shattered from USA Today
"Today, the pro-government Al-Gomhuria daily cites sources close to Mubarak as saying he is in a "severe psychological condition and is declining treatment, despite his illness.""
As Obama Sides with Protesters, New Mideast Posture Emerges from the McClatchy News Service
"As an unprecedented wave of street protests continued to spread, notably in the strategic Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, Obama used a news conference to lay down the first outlines of a broader U.S. response, now that it seems clear that the turmoil will extend well beyond the 18-day revolution that toppled Egypt's Hosni Mubarak."
Inside the Killing Machine from Newsweek
"President Obama is ordering a record number of Predator strikes. An exclusive interview with a man who approved ‘lethal operations.’
Niall Ferguson's Deeply Unconvincing Obama Attack (Jeffrey Goldberg) from the Atlantic
Here Goldberg is referring to this ITEM that is the cover story for Newsweek, a withering attack on Obama's handling of the Egypt crisis. Well, here Goldberg (by no means an apologist for this administration) withers right back at Ferguson in unusually cutting (and at points hilarious) terms.
"The condescension here is more than somewhat annoying. Those "hyperventilating" commentators running around Tahrir Square were reporting the news, and risking their lives while doing so. What idiots! How could they not know that the real action was in Tel Aviv, at a conference of hawkish Israeli defense ministry officials eating halvah parfaits!"Explaining Kim Jong-il’s Tantrums from The Diplomat
"Frozen out of talks and wanting attention, the Kim regime made a calculated decision to up the ante in 2010, Weston Kinishi tells The Diplomat."
Spiraling Inflation Threatens China's Stability from USA Today
"Spiraling prices have made the grocery store a scary place for Chu Yun, a 27-year-old office clerk."
China’s Bumpy Ride Ahead (Minxin Pei) from The Diplomat
"China’s ties with other major powers took a sharp turn for the worse in 2010. Its leaders need to change mindset, says Minxin Pei."
Obama and the Republicans (Elizabeth Drew) from the New York Review of Books
"President Obama, more popular than he’s been in a long time, is nonetheless negotiating very tricky terrain. But so, too, are the supposedly triumphant Republicans, with their often obstreperous ideologically extremist Tea Party partners. Obama wants to preempt the Republicans on some legislative issues. This is already disappointing or even enraging his most ardent followers, but he’s also making a strenuous effort to win back for 2012 the independents who made his victory possible in 2008 but then voted Republican in 2010."
A long-form essay on Obama's plan and strategy now.
Obama's Crafty Press Conference (Jacob Heilbrunn) from the National Interest
"It seems clear that in everything he does over the next two years, Obama is fervently going to cast himself as the moderate. That means he's going to leave as little room between himself and the GOP as possible. Obama is showing that he is a master of self-preservation."
Romney and the Birthers from Public Policy Polling
"Birtherism is alive and well within the GOP ranks, and their 2012 nominee preferences tell a story about the difficulty Mitt Romney faces in trying to appeal to an electorate that's a whole lot further out there than he is. Birthers make a majority among those voters who say they're likely to participate in a Republican primary next year."
POTENTIAL PET NUGGET!!
Taming the Wild from National Geographic Magazine
"Except that Mavrik, as it happens, is not a dog at all. He's a fox. Hidden away on this overgrown property, flanked by birch forests and barred by a rusty metal gate, he and several hundred of his relatives are the only population of domesticated silver foxes in the world."
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