this applies to arabs spring. the components of self-determination to those murders, in 1911 or 1912 there was a collision between a one of the great power in italy and the fading great power whose collapse in part, the ottoman empire of culturally islamic society that in comparative terms is failing to modernize economically, socially or technologically at the same pace as its competitors. that is one of the things going on with the ottoman empire. it applies to the austrian hungarian empire and roman ofs as well. i will leave them for another discussion. the formalization of the ottoman empire, fossil was asian of this vibrant civilization that jim was talking about called the muslim world. >> is by 1918-1919 the demand for self-determination and to bring this back to my syrian friends of 1982 that is one of the things they were talking to me about. we feel like we have been denied. in a certain sense of have been looking for arabs spring 2011 since 1982. i was looking for it earlier than that when i talk about

infringer a criminal offense which is in fact entirely new move on the way in a few minutes an arab spring on the slopes of the how. global political and economic leaders meet here at the world economic forum to tackle the grow zone right there and also the arab spring meanwhile those protests did activists they want their voices heard remain locked out. and now tie round where parliament is set to decide on whether to block oil supplies to europe the move comes after the e.u. imposed sanctions on iran and her temper forced her back to the negotiation table over its nuclear program the e.u. is all oil embargo comes into force in july. from the campaign against sanctions and military intervention in iran says the country is now taking action into its own hands. the grace period. that the vision for six months for does go to take place may actually not be that graceful so iran is taking matters into his own hands and the other issue is that it shows the complex feeling in the midst of politics and the power that the iranian parliament holds that is accountable to its people and it's not goin

talks with british author and middle east expert who explains what he believes was the arab spring turning point and who he thinks is still stoking the unrest. i'm talking to joan all broadly he's a foreign correspondent he's dedicated his life to writing about the middle east to publications all round the world in the wake of the arab spring he says fall from the democratic pluralism that the west assumed would take over was in fact rushing into that power vacuum is. john albright the thanks very much for talking to us today now we'll start with the situation in iran because it's very much in the news at the moment the e.u. has banned all new oil contracts with the country and it plans to extend sanctions on the iranian central bank how much do you think that's going to cost iran the e.u. and the global economy in general it's certainly going to cost the runs we've seen today the local currency. level against the u.s. dollar in history and the fact is that iran explore a sizable amount of resort to the you and coupled with american sanctions unilateral sanctions are already in place again

much dictated or influenced by germany and what germany wanted today we see the focus shift to the arab spring which obviously is a political geopolitical issue but was very much has economic ramifications as we see reported davos investors questioning what is the prospect of the change in the arab spring nations and what the prospects for investment are we've seen economic impacts of the geo political changes we've seen yields in egypt for example surged bar and cost be very high there so i think people are looking for answers to that and we have a number of events today that are geared towards discussing that very issue with some prominent leaders from tunisia and egypt here at the forum this year we've seen the occupy movement gather such steam and really of course they would be expected to be at davos at the world economic forum the irony is that as i was reading one analysis they were saying it sounds a little like klaus schwab the founder of the world economic forum is channeling occupy and his rhetoric about the problems of capitalism the irony of course is that occupy. protesters and a

what do you think the outcome could be if you look back at the arab spring the turning point came in late february when saudi arabia was given the go ahead by washington. and what happened then is related very much to everything that's happening now because it's the only country that is a majority ruled by a sunny minority and iran has the story claims to the island and the u.s. navy's fifth fleet is based crucial to containing iran and so essentially what we've seen is a sunny divide reemerge in the middle east with washington clearly backing sonny powerhouse saudi arabia close american ally and saudi arabia in turn along has taken control of the revolutions out swearin so for example it's funding and into the main islamist party in tunisia the muslim brotherhood and more extremist groups in egypt and of course in syria the main opposition is made dominated by the muslim brotherhood and the so-called free syrian army is dominated by not only radical jihadi is from within syria but also jihadi is from throughout the region where we're told constantly that there's no real threat becau

his life to writing about the middle east publications all around the world in the wake of the arab spring he says fall from the democratic pluralism that the west assumed would take over was in fact rushing into the power vacuum is. john l. bradley thanks very talking much for.

arab spring and at this point how big is a sites support base because we don't hear much about that syria is different because syria is a cornerstone for political settlement in the middle east and the geo strategic role of syria is sorry to say that and i built want to insult anybody but it's more important than more crucial than geo strategic role for the international stability of that many other countries were covered by so-called arab spring that's why dealing with the syrian case we have to play political chess but not american football is that where people want intervening to say i don't think that the idea of intervention into syria is in there strategically speaking it's a wise idea i think that what syria needs today it needs more political efforts it needs political dialogue and that's why i heard with regret. that president bashar assad said that he is not in favor of the continuing of the mission of observers sent by the arab league he got pretty upset when russia seriously think that observers sent by the arab league can play the role as a factor of stability when russia als

in the arab spring but is the jig it finally up are you ready to admit that really we only want what's in our interests and the taliban of announce that they'll be opening a political office in qatar and the us reportedly will release a few taliban commanders from guantanamo bay in return on hopes of negotiations so are really getting to close getting this close to an end and is this a breakthrough or is it just a little bit more of a cave matthew who is going to help us with that we have all that and more for tonight getting a dose of happy hour but first let's take a look at the mainstream media has decided to miss. i will that's if the results from iowa are in with romney taking the lead opened by eight points santorum coming in second to ron paul third i'm going to skip on the rest for now because well you probably already know the results because some of them like michele bachmann have already suspended their campaign and because the mainstream media obviously cannot stop talking about it for one single second and so once again you run into this perpetual problem that the mainstre

so like it or not i think the president has taken arab spring off the table as well as an election year thing so i mean the fact that they have gotten. the war in libya and that was quite a sight criticized by john mccain it was endorsing mitt romney that's right now mind you if the situation in libya deteriorates if the situation in egypt deteriorates if we have full scale civil war in syria that's another matter but the situations as they stand now with elections in egypt with the situation relatively stable in. libya and the situation of course is not good in syria but the level of violence hasn't escalated to an all out civil war. status quo if that remains i don't think some of the election year issue thank you very much. wealthy british. it's time to. go. to the. markets why not. find out what's really happening. the global economy in crisis report. published his plans to fight corruption and poverty as well as create a more civil society the prime minister's own chink his push for a third term as president. syria's president hardens crimes committed during that ten month uprising

results of so-called arab spring particularly with the war in libya is the problem of arms trafficking in the south in israel and in sub-saharan i recently visited. and for these poor countries and what is happening in the desert what is happening in and the softer the zone is a real nightmare one of the tribal leaders said to me what's happened in libya on the mind the markets of what markets today saw get the chinese made man pad that was and along for american made stinger costs the price of two kalashnikovs it's for nothing and i think it's a real problem it's a real problem because uncontrolled trafficking may end up somewhere in the south of africa or somewhere in the south of europe but do you think the fight for don't we nation over at the african research this could just have a lasting mention while the it's not the fight it's a kind of competition. suddenly many countries of which forgot about the african continent during the ninety's recognized that africa is the only continent in the world where you can get the assets for their real price or sometimes for the price which is

still dealing with the arab spring in the aftermath there it's very difficult for the united states to make a pivot like this so it's more of an aspirational pivot it's what the obama administration would like to do and so it's made a couple of gestures by putting some more marines in australia by say we're going to kind of focus more on china but whether will actually see some concrete changes it's going to be very difficult. you know what the obama administration has already done a modest opening to burma a very very modest opening doors. korea president doesn't have a lot of political capital that he doesn't want to waste it initiatives that might appear from republican critics to be appeasement so appeasing china appeasing north korea peace in burma he doesn't want to get into a situation in which if there's a best seller now especially in the lead up to the elections were either congress or the republican candidates can say we told you we told you this guy likes to sit down with dictators we would have none of that if we were president does that mean that the u.s. is changing its

jittery in the wake of the arab spring but it was because extend has a semblance of. democracy with several parties in parliament and some a position media but the essence of the regime is similar to those of the arab countries that's why the first thing the authorities did when their prize and began was to switch off the mobo networks and the internet connection before the people even demanded it out loud the chasm the riches decided to offer a political reforms the people in there are going to the polls to elect a new parliament recent constitutional amendments guarantee they'll be more than one party that has been up until now the challenge now is to keep all the good things stability prosperity. and at the same time allow the society to evolve. meanwhile they're there which is have approved millions of dollars worth of programs to give the rest of cd a facelift and create new jobs but you need. the president's close associates appointed to oversee the turbulent region says in a few years and will make some cities in the gulf pale in comparison. come here in a few

so like it or not i think the president has taken arab spring off the table as well as an election year thing so i mean with the fact that they have gone into war and we. and that was criticized criticized by john mccain it was endorsing mitt romney that's right now mind you if the situation in libya deteriorates if the situation in egypt deteriorates if we have full scale civil war in syria that's another matter but the situations as they stand now with elections in egypt with the situation relatively stable in. libya and the situation of course is not good in syria but the level of violence hasn't escalated to an all out civil war. status quo if that remains i don't think some of the election year issue thank you very much for joining us and i. party's top stories the arab league at loggerheads all caps are calls for intervention in syria other members warn it could lead to region wide on the rest meanwhile damascus has announced a general amnesty for political prisoners in accordance with the peace by. the u.k. obviously empty against the wrong person for a tough new oil embargo whic

tunisia is marking the first anniversary of the revolution that triggered the arab spring and change the face of an entire region while the country can boast of peaceful transition radical religious ideas are on the rise as are going to go now reports. it may have looked like a successful revolution getting rid of authoritarian regime while retaining its westernized facade but in parliamentary elections that followed tunisians voted for a naga and islamist party which now firmly holds the majority of seats in the new parliament. of political culture. the first experience. making the choice between. political programs it was hard especially political campaign. that pushed people to choose either with muslims and then muslims. if you. go but western tourists need to have nothing to fear the party's leaders say beer and bikini's irregular staples of tunisia's holidays hot spots are here to stay yet recent events at the maneuver university one of the largest in the country show the tunisian ways are indeed changing their protests erupted right here on the we're going to verse thirty seve

i'm still an optimist about the arab spring. i still think that region of our world having the chance to throw up a corrupt regime and have the chance of democracy and have a say in their government is still a net positive for that part of the world and for us as well which is why i'm proud of what we did in libya and also the help we've begin in egypt. i think the issue in egypt is trying 20 get the transition right. i think that the military powers to be have to do more to show people that they want a functioning democracy, and i think they need to take further steps in that direction. i think in europe, we have a responsibility where major trading partners and up vesters in -- investors in egypt, and the neighborhood program in europe was not conditional or active, not very robust, and we're changing that to ensure the way europe engages with egypt and tunisia and morocco is more positive in promoting the building blocks of democracy to give people in egypt that chance of success. egypt is absolutely key because of its size a

of world leaders heads of state europe rats are here today some of that attention turns to the arab spring people here at the forum try to weigh the economic implications are reports are coming that investors at davos are stumped over the arab spring and what that means for investment in countries like egypt that have seen their borrowing costs or and you still see protests on the street as we've seen a year after that uprising so for the business community the investment community that is really looking for merkel pledged more money they certainly didn't get what they wanted pledged instead that that the solution that eurozone leaders have had come to that she's kind of led the charge on for fiscal integration and structural reforms that is what she can offer at this point along with a plea for more patience so not sure that that's what investors want to hear that wanted more bailout money pledged the irony of course is that in a year where we've seen occupy movements really grow and really take a major news they've made it onto the agenda the world economic forum and a number of particip

so like it or not i think the president has taken arab spring off the table as well as an election year thing so i mean with the fact that they have gone into war and we. and that was criticized criticized by john mccain it was and they are saying mitt romney that's right now mind you if the situation in libya deteriorates if the situation in egypt deteriorates if we have full scale civil war in syria that's another matter but the situations as they stand now with elections in egypt with the situation relatively stable in. libya and the situation of course is not good in syria but the level of violence hasn't escalated to an all out civil war. status quo if that remains i don't think some of the election year issue thank you very much for joining us on our team. when an uncomfortable question leads to a grave accusation the world series more as you know foggy with. the president who isn't supposed to hide anything. or it's someone asking him why do you make a secret of it when the powers to be suppress the voice of those who think different. when you get experiencing very serious proble

economic leaders meet here at the world economic forum to tackle the eurozone crisis and also the arab spring meanwhile those who protested activist they want their voices heard remain locked out. of fuel and a few surprises as a russian rocket heads to the international space station for the first time this year taking some of the crew cannot do without. ten minutes past the hour the top job in the world's largest country is a highly prized position so beating your contenders requires some creative thinking those are for the russian president so you're using every avenue available to get the message out that you couldn't get a job has been looking at the campaign's voter attracting tactics. by the right doesn't want is that you were right is that was that it was gray suits and ties and slogans cold out from the poor d m r the traditional election season fair but they're no longer considered politically. today's complaining has gone online in a hot new trend in russia. with programming bloggers making fun of the opposition portraying them in prayer outside the u.s. embassy on sundays claiming

the arabs spring had influence on events. people had permission to demonstrate peacefully.ter the demonstrations, a few of them turned violent the too some being killed. >> on the 19th of april, after two months of continuous protest, government forces broke up the demonstrations could they burned down the protest is tense and their makeshift stage and filled the central square with their own troops. >> one day, it will happen again. >> clearly, there is unfinished business here. kurdish democracy is a work in progress. it might be a model for countries like tunisia, egypt, can look like 20 years after their own arabs bring the -- arab spring. >> that is all for this week. goodbye. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry that you operate in. working to provide capital. we offer expertise and to the solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc newsni

gene sharp explains whether his peaceful revolution concept is a match for the arab spring reality more from him later or so now it's time to look at how washington the slatted american bogeyman has won the hearts and homes of half a million people in the u.s. . the euro struggle for survival got that much more difficult this last week after a major credit rating agency slashed the credit scores of nine nations the downgrades handed out by standard and poor's come amid growing concern that the eurozone failed to raid in its runaway finances debt france and austria were especially hard hit losing their prestigious aaa status that made them a safe haven for investors and the reaction from e.u. leaders was varied with some calling the move on justified while others accepted the decision and called for urgent action economists across thing you are now waiting for monday when the markets are open again to gauge how much damage is being done laughlin from the institute for democracy and cooperation in paris told me he believes the euro project reached its end the downgrading of france but not

just the opposite of where the arab spring is. but they have tried to take -- if you go back to the china question, is that i do think at there are other suppliers in the world who would step in. again, i can't speak for these governments but the governor of arabia had a couple million barrels of excess capacity. we have been working and lots of people have been working to bring that oil supply back on-line. iraq is working to increase its oil production into the world. and i do think they will be alternatives. >> charlie: can you tell me, i do have the impression there's some kind of dialogue is going on with the iranians. somehow, back channels. how would we send the signato the iranians if we wanted to get our message clear. >> a couple points on that. we have offered the iranians, indeed on behalf of the p5 plus 1 group, the eurpean commission has asked the iranians to sit down with that group. which has been the principal group that has been interacting with them. they have not answered that. they've said a couple things, the