The Arab Tyrant Manual - a news & analysis platform - launches on 12 February 2019.
If you were on Twitter during the Arab Spring, you probably know how this started. The #ArabTyrantManual hashtag first appeared in March 2011, as our founder, Iyad El-Baghdadi, was watching Arab dictators react to the Arab Spring, seemingly following the same modus operandi in a comical display of lack of self awareness.
Since then, #ArabTyrantManual became a well-known, long-running hashtag used to punctuate commentary on authoritarianism - and not just in the Arab region. As we often joke, the “Arab” in #ArabTyrantManual is kinda like the “French” in french fries. The “manual” is global, really, although, well, we like to say that we have the “original”.
Years later, when we decided to launch a podcast dedicated to analysing and exposing the behavior and motivations of authoritarians, the choice of name was clear: The Arab Tyrant Manual Podcast was born. But although the podcast did very well since, we quickly realized we needed to expand our vision. The events of 2018 only made that clearer: This needed to become a full-featured media platform.
And so finally, here it comes. The Arab Tyrant Manual launches on February 12, 2019 - an online news and analysis platform covering authoritarianism and the struggle against it around the world, with a special focus on the MENA region.
The already-running podcast will now integrate into a wider and deeper menu of content. Our mission remains to study and expose authoritarianism, so that we may better resist it. The platform also inherits Kawaakibi Foundation’s vision: A world free from tyranny, terrorism, and foreign intervention. A world where native agency is honored, and human rights are sacrosanct.
A Very Special Request
After long and careful deliberation, we decided to tether our platform to our audience’s support - to your support.
Unlike many of the dictators we expose, we aren’t wading in cash. At the same time, we do not want to take on debt; we do not want to seek the support of institutional funders who want to control our agenda; we do not want to become addicted to grants; and we do not want to have ads or commercial sponsors. You - our audience - will be the backbone of our support.
This can only work in one case - if you support us. Please click through and join our Patreon, where you can pledge as little as $1 a month towards our budget. And if you’re willing to pledge at least $5 a month or more, we have an exciting list of exclusive, member-only products lined up for you.
We literally cannot do this without you. How fast we scale up to our true potential depends upon how many of you place your dollars where your values are, and back teams and ventures you believe in. Click here to make your pledge.