A New Arab Spring in Iraq and Lebanon?

The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Institute

Law, Terrorism, History, Politics, News, National Security, Foreign Policy, Intelligence, Diplomacy, International Law, International Relations, Constitutional Law, Rule Of Law, Current Events, Government, Military

4.7 • 6.4K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2019

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Over the past several weeks, popular protest movements have emerged in both Iraq and Lebanon, expressing widespread discontent with the status quo in both countries. The unrest has led to both the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and a public statement by Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi of his intent to resign as soon as a successor is selected. But protestors also have been the subject of increasingly violent repression, especially in Iraq, where Iranian forces are believed to be actively combatting the demonstrators. To discuss these developments, Scott R. Anderson sat down with Randa Slim of the Middle East Institute; Rasha Al Aqeedi, managing editor of Irfaa Sawtak; and Tamara Cofman Wittes of the Brookings Institution.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the LawFair
0:07.2	podcast become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash LawFair.
0:14.7	That's patreon.com slash LawFair.
0:18.2	Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, rational security, chatter, LawFair
0:25.6	no bull and the aftermath.
0:30.9	Changing the status quo is not going to be easy.
0:36.8	Changing the constitution is also a problem.
0:38.8	You have this time around.
0:40.4	Sunnis and Kurds are also a bit afraid of constitutional changes.
0:44.0	They have their own interest.
0:45.7	Like Lebanon, there's like a vast web of interest that benefit from the status quo they're
0:51.0	not going to give up easily.
0:52.8	So I don't see this movement actually achieving all of it.
0:55.5	What it has achieved already that cannot be taken from them is the massive social changes
0:59.2	in Iraq.
1:00.2	As someone from the country born and raised, I left around 2014.
1:04.9	What I'm seeing today, I never thought I'd see in my lifetime and I'm not that much older
1:08.4	than the protesters.
1:09.6	I never thought I'd see women staying all night, aiding the injured protesters with their
1:14.7	families.
1:15.7	I never thought I'd see this openness about being so vocally against the status quo.
1:21.0	I've always thought Iraqis were kind of pacified after all the violence and trauma we've seen
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Lawfare Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Lawfare Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.