Anti-government protestors wave their shoes, in a gesture of anger, after President Hosni Mubarak announces that he will not seek re-election on February 1, 2011 in Cairo.
(Getty)
The popular uprising in Egypt is unprecedented as citizens forced an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30 year regime. The transition to a democratic government will be fraught with challenges, but such a transition is not unprecedented in the region. What does democracy look like in the Middle East?
Marina Ottaway is the director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where she studies the introduction of Democracy to the region. Anthony Shadid, Beirut bureau chief for The New York Times is in Cairo, where he says the mood has become more aggressive as pro-Mubarak demonstrators are surrounding Tahrir Square.
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The show is a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in collaboration with New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston.
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Comments [1]
On The Takeaway this morning Marina Ottaway said, "There are no democracies in the Middle East." You may hate and despise Israel and Jews but it is intellectually dishonest to make such a statement. Like it or not, Israel is a functioning parliamentary democracy. The Takeaway commentators, H&H, seem unable to supply an honest journalistic corrective. Well, I suppose you don't want to offend Ms. Ottaway. Perhaps you might inform her in private that there are no Arab and/or Muslim democracies in the Middle East - just to help her retain a slightly more objective viewpoint.
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