Democracy is spreading everywhere except in the Arab world. Arab elections are an immense masquerade. Corrupt dictatorships seek to stifle freedom of thought and to control the flow of information.
About the Authors
Mohamed Talbi
Mohamed Talbi is a Tunisian historian who has authored a number of books and articles on the history of the Maghreb. His more recent publications, which have focused on issues related to Islam, include Iyal Allah (God’s family), published in French translation in 1996 as Plaidoyer pour un Islam moderne.
The 2009 vote for the presidency and local councils was marred by fraud, provoking a political crisis and casting a deep shadow over upcoming parliamentary elections. The Afghan experience calls…
Syria is a rare case. A state being governed by a new elite that is committed to Islamic thought but open to a wide range of intellectual influences. While it…
Despite some moves toward liberalization in the past three decades, all Arab-majority countries remain authoritarian. Nonetheless, opinion surveys show that popular support for democracy in this part of the world…
