I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! As finals week starts moving closer, its crunch time to get all of my research papers done for the semester. I think there is nothing more exciting than reading a good book about international politics that covers a currently important topic that usually gets little attention. One of my International Studies professors recently recommended a book to me to get a better understanding about the topic that I chose for my Bachelor thesis: Islamist Organizations in Egypt. The Struggle for Egypt by Steven A. Cook has been a great read so far and I have to recommend it to anyone seriously interested in what is happening in Egypt right now. The book gives a great understanding about the frustration that the Egyptian people have had for the past century and why they have come to demand their political and economic freedoms now.
Keeping in line with my little book recommendation I will be talking about the upcoming elections in Egypt, and the decision that the parliament of Iran has just made (yes, they do have a parliament believe it or not).
Was it hijacked or does it just need time?
The revolution that ended in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak on February 11th, 2011, finally shows some fruit. The people of Egypt will go to the polls today to vote in the first round of elections for members of the 508-member strong lower house of the Egyptian parliament. However, continues protests are troubling the piece and quiet that is required to hold ordered elections. Current head of state, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, has warned the Egyptian public that if the elections fail due to the violence that has been happening in places like Tahrir Square, there would be dangerous hurdles in the future. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood has taken a backseat in the protests taking place in Tahrir, anticipating winning at least 25% of seats in the upcoming elections. The Brothers’ passiveness in the protests against the current military junta has been viewed negatively by the Egyptian people who fear that the current military regime might cling to power. Yet, “who will benefit from all the chaos?” The Economist asks. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if the protesters in the streets will, since old political parties like the Wafd Party, the Freedom and Justice Party, and the Al-Tagmmu Party are likely to win at the polls. None of those parties really represent the protesters in the street. For more information on the technicalities of the elections please check out a very informative chart that Al Jazeera Online has released here and for more information on the parties participating in the elections please check out BBCs website here.
Personally, I am hopeful that the elections will go off smoothly. Even though the protesters might not be represented directly by any of the parties, to have an election at all is a start. A routine for parliamentary democracy needs to be established as soon as possible so that the military leadership can be replaced by a civilian one. Once the civilian leadership is established, a party that represents the unemployed youth of Egypt can be voted into place. The one thing that should be made sure is that no party gets voted into place that has limits to democracy on its agenda.
Digging a deeper hole for itself
After further sanctions to be imposed by the United Kingdom on Iran, the Parliament of Iran has voted to downgrade diplomatic ties from ambassadorial level to the level of charge d’affairs. The move comes after the announcement of the UK treasury that Britain would cut all financial ties to the Central Bank of Iran. This comes as a reaction to the IAEA report that directly linked the Iranian Central Bank to the financing of the nuclear program of the Persian state. 87% of the members of parliament voted in favor for the bill and the affirmative vote would have been even stronger if measures against the UK would have included even more severe measures like the closure of the UK embassy in Tehran .
As mentioned in the article by The Guardian above, Iran is only putting itself into deeper isolation in the world of international politics. It has really come to the point where there is no need for sanctions anymore, because Iran feels so alienated that it will put itself in the corner. Has the sanctions regime reached its goal? Iran is still going for the nuke so I guess not, but at least it has reached a stage where Iran is an active supporter of the sanctions levied against it.
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