Category: Middle East

How internet activism and street art can change Iran

In late May, an Iranian court sentenced eight people to 123 years in prison for administrating Facebook pages that the judiciary claims spread anti-government propaganda and insulted the country’s leaders. In Iran, Facebook and other social media sites were officially banned in 2009 after opposition members used them to organize protest rallies following the disputed
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Libya: Set to crumble?

The news may have gone unnoticed as tanks in Ukraine and the disappearance of a Malayan plane swamped our screens, but the fact is that Libya is not faring well. First, a Panamanian-flagged North Korean tanker (beautifully called “Morning Glory”) took an illegal cargo of crude oil from rebels in the east of the country and safely left
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The Arab youth after the revolution: Civically engaged, yet not empowered

Three years ago, the world was shaken up by a chain of events and revolutions termed the ‘Arab Spring’. The protests and rebellion were driven by the countries’ youths, a sector of the population which had up to then not been able to raise their voices. What has happened to these youngsters? Are they engaged in the political transitions of their countries, or do they remain marginalized and frustrated, forming further incubators of protest?
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