A New Arab World: Are Revolutions Transforming the Middle East?
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“People power” has raised hopes for fundamental change in the entrenched dictatorships of the Middle East. But in Egypt today, street protests, strikes and sit-ins were declared illegal today by Hosni Mubarak’s military successors. We hear more on the possible consequences of revolution. Also, radioactive iodine turns up in Tokyo tap water, and Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor is dead at 79.
Banner image: People gesture and hold a flag during a celebratory rally after the United Nations approved a no fly zone over the country on March 18, 2011 in Tobruk, Libya. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Making News
Radioactive Iodine in Tokyo Tap Water ()
The government of Japan has declared that tap water in Tokyo is now contaminated with radioactive iodine and that it should not be fed to infants. Dr. Jeff Patterson is past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility in this country and a student of the health effects of exposure to radioactivity.
Guests:
- Jeff Patterson: Physicians for Social Responsibility
Main Topic
Are Revolutions Transforming the Middle East? ()
Since the so-called "Arab Spring" began in Tunisia, there's been violence in that country. Today, Egypt's new military leaders formally criminalized protests. In Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Libya, there's no telling what kinds of changes domestic upheaval will bring. Iran and Saudi Arabia may not see changes at all. What can be learned from Georgia, Ukraine and other countries that threw off the yoke of Communism? When is the old order vulnerable to a new generation of freedom-loving democrats? When are high expectations vulnerable to traditional realities?
Guests:
- Scott Peterson: Christian Science Monitor, @peterson__scott
- Ashraf Khalil: Foreign Policy magazine
- Shadi Hamid: Brookings' Doha Center, @shadihamid
- Khalil Jahshan: Pepperdine University
- Mark Levine: UC Irvine
- Thomas Carothers: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Links:
Reporter's Notebook
Elizabeth Taylor, Hollywood Icon, Dead at 79 ()
Elizabeth Taylor died of congestive heart failure last night after six weeks at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 79 years old. In sixty years, Taylor appeared in more than 50 films and won two Oscars. She was married eight times — twice to leading man Richard Burton — and was known as a relentless campaigner against HIV/AIDS. Kenneth Turan, film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR, looks back at her life and career.
Guests:
- Kenneth Turan: Los Angeles Times
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