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On the 10th anniversary of the 2013 coup in Egypt when General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi removed the country’s first democratically elected president from power, we speak with author Shadi Hamid about “Lessons for the Next Arab Spring,” in which he details how the Obama administration helped to kill the democratic uprising across the Middle East. “Washington, and Obama in particular, gave what amounted to a green light to the Egyptian military to proceed with the coup,” says Hamid. The U.S. then refused to call it a coup or to impose any consequences, while continuing to send billions in foreign aid to the military dictatorship, which continues to rule the country to this day.

In Guatemala, election officials have rejected an attempt by the ruling business and political elite to overturn the results of last month’s first round of the presidential election. Sandra Torres, the former first lady, accused of corruption, and her allies challenged the results of June’s first-round elections, which saw the progressive, anti-corruption candidate Bernardo Arévalo win second place and force a runoff. On Thursday, an electoral court said the final results of the first round had not changed after the review. Protests erupted in Guatemala City after the review suspended certification of election results. “It was really difficult for us to compete in this election, and now they are saying we manipulated the results,” says Samuel Pérez Álvarez, a Guatemalan congressmember who leads the progressive political party Movimiento Semilla. “​​This regime is not only corrupt, but authoritarian.” The runoff election will be held in August between Torres and Arévalo.

[Remnants of an air-dropped cluster bomb and unexploded bomblets found in Yemen on May 23, 2015.Human Rights Watch/Basset al-Sharafi]

Despite newly revealed cybersecurity flaws in Georgia's statewide touchscreen voting systems; a weeks-long breach by right-wing operatives of the sensitive voting and tabulation software used across the state; and a growing clamor by both the public and state officials for decisive action to try to plug some of these vulnerabilities before next year's Presidential election, [...]

Hundreds of movement leaders, activists, organizers, funders, and journalists gathered in Atlanta, Georgia in June 2023 at Alight, Align, Arise.

Hundreds of movement leaders, activists, organizers, funders, and journalists gathered in Atlanta, Georgia in June 2023 at Alight, Align, Arise.