Shep Smith, a popular announcer on Fox News, had Philippe Karsenty, a French businessman and politician who is known as a media critic somewhat in the way of Reed Irvine, on his show the other day, on the subject of…
The Sudanese uniforms must have noticed when Algeria’s army boss, Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, pushed his president out the door, politely as these things go, a couple weeks ago, because they lost little time fomenting the same fate for their…
Frederik Chopin was a Polish pianist whose passionate compositions continue to stir the soul. His music is associated with the doomed 1830 uprising against Imperial Russian rule, foreshadowing the fights for freedom against Nazis and Communists in the 20th century. Franz…
Algeria’s army chief, General Ahmed Gaid Salah, is playing two roles — still one less than Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove — namely, good cop and bad cop. It may be working. The living — or dying — representative figure…
The issue in Algeria now appears to be whether the incumbent president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, will go quietly when his term expires today, or whether the constitutional court (their Supremes) will ask the parliament (their House) to produce a two-thirds majority…
In announcing the army will be mobilized in anticipation of yet another demonstration in Paris by yellow-vested protesters — a regular weekend occurrence since November — French president Emmanuel Macron appears to be playing double or nothing. If the strategy…
Algerian street demonstrators got a big win with the announcement, either by himself or his medico-ventriloquist, that incumbent president Abdelaziz Bouteflika would not stand for a fifth term, after all. Since February 22, the “Arab street” in all the cities…
Demonstrations across Algeria suggest another “Arab Spring” may be on the way. It would have to be called an Arabo-Berber Spring to be demographically accurate, and it may have to go the patient route, starting with the symbolic step of…
While “yellow-vest” protests continue in France, receiving wide and attention, rolling demos in Algeria are scarcely noticed. Yet as different sectors of society mobilize through social media for turns in the streets of Algiers, the stakes are no less dramatic….