Steven A. Cook

From the Potomac to the Euphrates

Cook examines developments in the Middle East and their resonance in Washington.

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Showing posts for "Algeria"

Thinking About Algeria and “Analytic Overshooting”

by Steven A. Cook
Algeria's President and head of the Armed Forces Abdelaziz Bouteflika (Stringer/Courtesy Reuters). Algeria's President and head of the Armed Forces Abdelaziz Bouteflika (Stringer/Courtesy Reuters).

In the fall of 1991, Robert A. Mortimer writing in the Middle East Journal declared, “Although the leaders of the post-independence generation feared that a pluralistic Algeria would be too unruly to govern, today’s political elite has moved beyond that position.” It was not to be, however. Just a few months after Mortimer’s article appeared, Algeria’s senior military commanders pushed President Chadli Bendjedid from office and nullified the results of the country’s first competitive national elections when it became clear that the Front Islamique du Salut would win an outright majority in the National Assembly. The civil conflict that followed the military’s intervention took the lives of somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 Algerians, though some estimates go much higher. Read more »

Weekend Reading: Understanding Sinai Through Maps, Misguided Anger, and Algeria’s Foreign Policy

by Steven A. Cook
A man reads the newspaper at a vendor's stall in Sanaa (Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Courtesy Reuters). A man reads the newspaper at a vendor's stall in Sanaa (Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Courtesy Reuters).

The Multinational Force & Observers’ interactive map of the Sinai.

Robin Yassin-Kassab, on his blog Qunfuz, says that last week’s protests sparked by a video mocking Mohammed are misguided, calling them a distraction from the really serious issues in the region. Read more »

Weekend Reading: Snapshots of Protests in the Middle East

by Steven A. Cook
Protesters climb a fence at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa (Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Courtesy Reuters). Protesters climb a fence at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa (Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Courtesy Reuters).

Nafeesa Syeed provides a closer look at the ongoing protests at the U.S. embassy in Sana’a, Yemen.

Evan Hill offers an interesting analysis of the anti-American demonstrations sweeping the Arab world. Read more »

Military ‘Soft Coup’ in Egypt Has Precedent

by Steven A. Cook
Police stand guard during a protest against the military council outside Egypt's parliament in Cairo (Suhaib Salem/Courtesy Reuters). Police stand guard during a protest against the military council outside Egypt's parliament in Cairo (Suhaib Salem/Courtesy Reuters).

This is an excerpt from an article published here at The Christian Science Monitor on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. I hope you find it interesting and I look forward to reading your comments.  Read more »