Marc Lynch (George Washington): After Egypt: The Limits and Promise of Online Challenges to the Authoritarian Arab State. Harris Breslow and Ilhem Allagui (AUS): A Decade of Internet Time in the Arab World: Or How to Stop Worrying and Love the Internet. What Wikileaks tells us about Al Jazeera: Is the rapidly expanding Middle East satellite television network and voice of the Arab Spring as independent as it claims? From Le Monde diplomatique, what to do about Al-Jazeera? Al-Jazeera has great influence in the Arab world, now in ferment, and it is able to embarrass Qatar’s government by contradicting its diplomatic moves; and from oil to business tourism: In just a few years Qatar has risen to the forefront of the global economic scene (and more and more). The Pink Hijab: The Arab revolts of 2011 have transformed the image of the Islamic world; one young Egyptian woman’s struggle reflects the scope of change — and shows how long it has been in coming. The Egyptian impasse raises a sobering question: whether a revolution can succeed without violence. Have the Arab uprisings made Israel less secure? A review of Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World by Robin Wright (and more). Hussein Agha and Robert Malley on the Arab Counterrevolution. In post-Mubarak Egypt, the big decision is whether to face an uncertain future at home or abroad. Turbulence in the Fourth Wave: Even if the Arab spring does create a surge of regional democracy, expect the tide to ebb and flow. Is the Arab Spring doomed to end in tribal violence and strongman rule? Why the pessimists about Libya, Yemen, and the rest may have it wrong. A review of The Arab Revolution: Ten Lessons from the Democratic Uprising by Jean-Pierre Filiu. Sons of no one: Syria’s rebel youth have had to teach themselves everything.
