Obama Urges Trade, Investment to Support Arab Spring; U.S. Scores Not so Hot
5/19/11
One passage in President Obama's Middle East speech today caught my attention:
Tag: Tunisia
Youth in the Middle East: Nowhere to Go but the Street
1/31/11
The firestorm of events across the Middle East over the past few days can't be explained by long-term development factors: the link between politics and economic development (or lack thereof) is complex in the extreme. Still, the staggering lack of opportunities for young people, especially young entrepreneurs without political connections, is clearly an important part of the mix.
Two Lessons from Tunisia
1/24/11
Recent events in Tunisia suggest two lessons. First, the west is wrong to think of old dictators as useful allies. Like other longstanding authoritarian despots before him, President Ben Ali managed to convince the United States (and also western allies like France and the UK), that the repressive nature of his regime was essential for regional stability. In this case, his bloated police state was viewed as a necessary inconvenience by western diplomats, given the alleged threat of radical Islam, even if it meant that the West was maintaining close diplomatic relations with a corrupt and