Jeremy Scahill, author of Dirty Wars, interviewed by Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman & Juan González

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Arab Spring Topics

Democracy Now! is following the popular uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa.

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  • Libya_showbutton

    As Calls for Intervention in Syria Grow, Vijay Prashad Urges Reevaluation of NATO Attack on Libya

    Libya has just marked the first anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule. But as Libya celebrates a new era free of the Gaddafi regime, there are growing concerns the country’s lingering divisions will tear it apart. Libya remains deeply splintered by regions and factions. More than 500 militias exist throughout the country, leading to ongoing human rights abuses that resemble those...
    Feb 21, 2012 | Story
  • Bahrain-button

    U.S.-Backed Bahraini Forces Arrest and Deport Two American Peace Activists Acting as Human Rights Observers

    On Saturday, Bahrain arrested and deported two U.S. human rights lawyers, Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath, for their role in recent protests. They were deported Sunday and returned to New York last night. Both Arraf and Sainath are human rights lawyers and members of the Witness Bahrain initiative, which places international observers in the country in the hopes of preventing violence by security forces. Their arrest comes just ahead of the...
    Feb 13, 2012 | Story
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    Ousted Maldives Pres. Mohamed Nasheed a Leading Voice for Island States Threatened by Global Warming

    For years, Mohamed Nasheed was the most vocal world leader on the threat climate change poses to residents of small island states. After becoming the first democratically elected president in Maldives, he pledged to make the nation the first carbon neutral country and once held a cabinet meeting underwater. We discuss Nasheed’s ouster and his outspoken campaigning on global warming with environmental activist Bill McKibben, whose group 350.org...
    Feb 09, 2012 | Story
  • Syria_showbutton

    A Struggle for Regional Supremacy: Syria Conflict Escalates as World Powers Debate Assad's Future

    Syria is seeing some of the worst violence of the 11-month uprising against Bashar al-Assad amid an ongoing international standoff over how to respond. Assad’s forces have launched what appears to be one of their fiercest assaults on the flashpoint city of Homs to date. Both the United States and Britain have closed their embassies in the Syrian capital of Damascus and withdrawn diplomatic personnel, citing safety fears. As the crisis escalates,...
    Feb 07, 2012 | Story
  • Syria-button

    Syrian Activist Speaks from Hiding: The Bloodshed is Continuing Despite International Criticism

    Street battles are raging at the gates of the Syrian capital of Damascus, and activists say at least 62 people were killed nationwide on Sunday. This comes as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Syrian leadership, particularly President Bashar al-Assad, to end the violence against the demonstrators immediately, and plans to take up a draft resolution this week calling on him to step down and transfer power. "They...
    Jan 30, 2012 | Story
  • Sharif_button

    Egypt: Sharif Abdel Kouddous Reports from Cairo as Crowds Mark 1 Year of Revolution in Tahrir Square

    As tens of thousands of Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square to mark the first anniversary of the start of the revolution that ended Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade reign, we go to Cairo to speak with Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who has reported on the popular uprising since it began. "What happened on January 25th was really an uprising that was 10 years in the making, a growing resistance movement to the Mubarak...
    Jan 25, 2012 | Story
  • Egypt_film_button

    "In Tahrir Square": HBO Doc on Egypt's Revolution Through Eyes of Democracy Now!'s Sharif Kouddous

    Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous is the central character in the new HBO documentary airing tonight, "In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution." The film chronicles the uprising though the reporting of Kouddous, and it looks at what the protest meant for his uncle, Mohamed Abdel Quddoos, a longtime Egyptian dissident who was arrested dozens of times by the Mubarak regime. We’re joined by...
    Jan 25, 2012 | Story

  • The Egyptian Revolution: One Year Later

    On the first anniversary of the Jan. 25th protests in Tahrir Square, we’ll speak to Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous live from Cairo. We will also air an excerpt of the new HBO documentary, "In Tahrir Square," featuring Sharif. We’ll talk to the filmmakers, Jon Alpert and Matt O’Neill.
    Jan 24, 2012 | Web Exclusive
  • 2011_democracynow

    Year of Global Uprisings, from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street: A Special Look Back at 2011

    Today we look back at 2011, a year that saw the U.S. killing of Osama Bin Laden, the ouster of a dictator in Egypt and the death of one in Libya, the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, and the expansion of the secret U.S. drone war in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula. As U.S. troops leave Iraq, thousands of private security contractors remain to guard the U.S. embassy—the largest in the world. The Horn of...
    Jan 02, 2012 | Story
  • Syria2

    Syrian Activist Speaks Out from Hiding as Arab League Mission Fails to Slow Deadly Crackdown

    Syrian troops continue to fire on protesters despite a visit by Arab League monitors to assess the Assad regime’s compliance with a plan to resolve the country’s political crisis. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the nine-month-long uprising. We’re joined from Damascus by Bassel, a Syrian activist and filmmaker just back from the city of Homs, where three dozen people were reportedly killed the day before monitors arrived....
    Dec 29, 2011 | Story