Shadi Hamid

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del autor incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de septiembre de 2006. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

Palestinians travel through Jabalia as they flee the northern Gaza Strip toward Gaza City on May 19, amid Israeli evacuation orders and strikes. (Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images)

Throughout history, atrocities have usually been committed under cover of darkness. The perpetrators know that what they are doing is wrong. They hide it. They deny it. They speak in euphemisms. But what happens when they no longer feel the need to hide? What happens when they say the quiet part out loud?

This is what is happening in Gaza today. The mask has come off.

Ethnic cleansing has become the official policy of Israel. The nation’s leaders are admitting it, without apology. There was barely a pretense before. But now there’s not even that. And these admissions, combined with mass killing on the ground, point to something even more horrific: genocide.…  Seguir leyendo »

Pope Francis in D.C. after speaking to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 24, 2015. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)

Popes aren’t meant to be revolutionaries. Pope Francis, however, was. For a church steeped in tradition, change usually comes slowly, if at all. Francis, who died on Monday, understood this but never seemed dissuaded by it. But though he may have reinvigorated the Catholic Church, Francis did not resolve its fissures. Particularly in the United States, he deepened them — becoming a protagonist in, as well as a victim of, the country’s culture wars.

Assuming the papacy at the age of 76, Francis had a freewheeling charisma and a lack of pretense that made him the most accessible pope of the modern era.…  Seguir leyendo »

Tunisian President Kais Saied during a European Union–African Union summit, Brussels, February 2022. Johanna Geron / Pool / Reuters

Twenty months after Tunisian President Kais Saied suspended parliament in what amounted to an auto-coup, his autocratic rule is solidifying and entrenching itself. Whereas the regime’s repression once seemed ad hoc and intermittent, it is now systematic and far-reaching, including dozens of arrests of leading opposition figures and the use of military trials against dissidents. Saied has also targeted Black migrants residing in Tunisia, alleging “a criminal plot . . . to change Tunisia’s demographic make-up”. His embrace of a North African version of the racist “great replacement” theory has drawn plaudits from figures on the European far right, including former French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour.…  Seguir leyendo »

Amid international concern about the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, some 200 protesters gathered in central Tunis on Monday night to protest Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Tuesday arrival for talks with the Tunisian president. (Hassene Dridi)

The notion of a Tunisian “model” is a convenience for Western observers who still hope that all is not lost from the once heady optimism of the Arab Spring. It offers, however, little solace to Tunisians themselves, who sense — correctly — that their democracy remains imperfect. Tunisians, who haven’t lived under the sheer brutality of Egyptian dictatorship or the collapsing state structures of Yemen, aren’t comparing themselves to those countries; they are comparing themselves — rightfully — to what they wish they could be.

In our conversations with young Tunisians, we have often pointed out that Tunisia, unlike its neighbors, is at least relatively democratic.…  Seguir leyendo »

CNN Opinion asked a range of contributors for their take on last week's attacks in Paris and how the war on ISIS must change if the U.S. and its allies want to defeat it. The opinions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of the authors.

Fareed Zakaria: What does ISIS want?

The barbarism of the attacks in Paris mark a new low in terror. The attacks were not directed against national symbols or government targets, but designed simply to kill innocent men, women and children. The murderers did not even bother to issue demands.

French President Francois Hollande has called Friday's attacks an act of war.…  Seguir leyendo »

After 20 months of negotiations, a deal has been announced over Iran's nuclear program. But is it a good deal? And if so, for whom? CNN asked a range of contributors for their take on what it means, and what to expect next. The views expressed are the writers' own.

The deal of the century -- for Iran

There's no question the Obama administration got what it wanted out of this deal: a slower, smaller Iranian nuclear program more easily monitored and constrained for at least a decade. No chance now of a pre-emptive Israeli strike, and no need for an American one.…  Seguir leyendo »

Is ISIS actually sealing its own fate with the release of these gruesome beheading videos? How effective will military strikes really be? CNN hosts an email discussion on the threat posed by ISIS and how the U.S. should respond. CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank, former CIA analysts and terrorism experts Cindy Storer and Nada Bakos, and Brookings Institution fellow Shadi Hamid offer their takes. Their comments have been edited for clarity and style.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has managed to shock the world by releasing videos of the executions of two American journalists, a British aid worker and now a French tourist.…  Seguir leyendo »

More Democratic, Less Liberal

After being ousted from power last July, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world’s original Islamist movement, faces an existential moment. The group has been targeted with extreme repression, prompting a wave of commentary about the failure — or even death — of political Islam.

Premature obituaries of the Brotherhood usually turn out to be just that. As early as 1963, the political scientist Manfred Halpern wrote that secular nationalism had triumphed over political Islam. Half a century later, the Brotherhood’s opponents hold out hope that President Mohamed Morsi’s demise wasn’t that of a man or an organization, but of a worldview.…  Seguir leyendo »

When Mohamed Morsi became Egypt’s first democratically elected president last year, it was an especially sweet victory for the Muslim Brotherhood, the region’s oldest and most influential Islamist movement. After a long history of repression, the Brotherhood had finally tasted triumph. But their short-lived rule ended Wednesday when Egypt’s army deposed Mr. Morsi.

The Brotherhood’s fall will have profound implications for the future of political Islam, reverberating across the region in potentially dangerous ways. One of the most important political developments of recent years was the decision of Islamist parties to make peace with democracy and commit to playing by the rules of the political game.…  Seguir leyendo »

For Libya's transitional government, the challenges today are just as daunting as they were last week. To be sure, Gadhafi's death provides them a moment of respite and an important propaganda boost as they try to cobble together a credible coalition that can govern. It further breaks down the psychological barrier of fear so many Libyans have continued to feel, left over from decades of dictatorial rule. However, the gains, while important, are more symbolic than practical.

Gadhafi was the greatest unifier Libyans could have asked for. He was erratic, brutal and a mismanager par excellence and, as such, managed to mobilize a broad swath of Libyans around a shared goal: the downfall of his hated regime.…  Seguir leyendo »

After the first competitive elections in Egypt's history, many Egyptians find themselves straddling the divide between the deposed regime of Hosni Mubarak and its 84-year-old Islamist adversary, the Muslim Brotherhood. Polarization has long been a problem for Egypt. Now there is more of it than ever.

The two candidates who received the most votes will face off in the second round in mid-June. The Brotherhood's candidate, Mohamed Morsi, is trying to get liberals and leftists to hold their noses and vote for him. Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister of the old regime, promises to save Egypt from the "dark forces" of Islamism.…  Seguir leyendo »

The Post asked experts what should happen in Egypt after Mubarak. Below are responses from Michele Dunne, John R. Bolton, Newt Gingrich, Shadi Hamid, Aaron David Miller, Salman Shaikh, and Dina Guirguis.

After Hosni Mubarak surrenders his powers, a transitional government should oversee a process leading to free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections within six to nine months. Ideally, the transitional government should include respected figures from the Mubarak government, senior judges and members of opposition groups.

The parliament fraudulently elected in November should be dissolved (preferably as Mubarak's final act as president), the state of emergency in place since 1981 lifted, and a constitutional assembly composed of judges and civil society figures convened to draft significant amendments to the Egyptian constitution.…  Seguir leyendo »

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's promise on Tuesday that he will not stand for reelection in September was too little, too late. The Egyptian regime is fatally wounded, with protesters demanding nothing less than a complete break with the past. Mubarak may not relinquish power tomorrow, but his days are numbered. And the government that replaces him is likely to include the Muslim Brotherhood, the world's oldest Islamist movement as well as one of its most feared.

In the coming days, the prospect of the Brotherhood's rise is likely to be one of the big stories out of Egypt. Alarm about this prospect is already being sounded in the West.…  Seguir leyendo »