By Joan Ruzsa

I remember when the Harper government first introduced a bill (then called C-15) to create mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. I was struck by something when reading the parliamentary debates on the issue. Not only did the opposition parties point to numerous position papers that discounted the efficacy of mandatory minimums, but even the Conservatives' own research clearly showed that harsher sentences have no deterrent effect on crime.

This month we were very glad to publish Ali Mustafa's interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy about the revolutionary process in Egypt -- our most widely-read article ever. With 2011 drawing to an end, here are a few of the articles we published in 2011 that we think you shouldn't miss. Until we're back with more articles in January 2012, we invite you to have a look at these and other articles.

By Ali Mustafa

Hossam el-Hamalawy is a leading Egyptian journalist, photographer, and socialist activist from Cairo who maintains the widely followed blog 3arabawy. He is also actively involved in the Revolutionary Socialists, the Center for Socialist Studies, and the Workers Democratic Party. I had the fortunate opportunity to sit down and talk with him about his views on the current state of the Egyptian revolution following the latest revolt in Tahrir Square this past November, arguably the fiercest and most important display of popular resistance to the ruling military regime to take place since the January 25th uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak some ten month ago.

By Sarah Hines

Review of Jeffery Webber, From Rebellion to Reform in Bolivia: Class Struggle, Indigenous Liberation and the Politics of Evo Morales (Chicago: Haymarket, 2011).

Bolivia has been on forefront of challenges to neoliberalism in Latin America and the Global South, and stands out for the level of autonomy and power achieved by its social movements.

By Greg Sharzer

Last summer's London Riots may not have directly anticipated the current Occupy Movement. But they stem from a similar place: a growing outrage at the deprivation and inequality of the capitalist system. And like the Occupy movement, the riots raise important questions about how leftists should relate to them - NS.