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As the United States has closed its embassy and withdrawn its last troops, Yemen has slid into total chaos, with rebels and jihadists on both sides capturing military bases and seizing tanks and heavy weapons.

Compiled by faculty members at the German University in Cairo, this working paper series addresses the effect that watsa has on competence and morality in Middle Eastern economics and society. The authors define watsa as, "the intervention of a patron in favor of a client to obtain benefits and/or resources from a third party." In simpler terms it is a system of social networking in Arab culture in which family and social ties play a significant role in the attainment of economic advantages and resources, largely in the hiring process in businesses and organizations. A person applying for a job seeks out watsa to increase their chances of getting hired. Comparable to nepotism and cronyism, but is not restricted to friends and associates, watsa can also involve strangers linked through some social web of people. Watsa runs somewhat parallel to a Chinese concept of guanxi, based on Confucian ethics and focusing on strong collective ties. While guanxi is a part of Chinese ethics it actually defies Muslim ethical values, which advocates hiring the person most capable. In a Jordanian survey, 87% of respondents want watsa eradicated. While we know that unemployment in the Arab region is widespread, we can assume that this motivates people to do anything they can to improve their chances of obtaining a job. However, the practice of watsa as a whole is actually degrading the economic systems in the Arab sates even further. The article explains the linkage between watsa and poor job performance, economic decline, and the festering of injustice and frustration among the masses in Arab countries.

This looks super interesting, but I can't get the link to open. Thanks for writing a thorough summary of it!

This article actually talks about the professional terms associated with social media and the Egyptian Revolution. "Resource mobilization theory " It also gives real examples of tweets from Egyptian youth who kept the world updated with minute to minute statuses.  "@mfatta7 Tear gas  @mfatta7 I'm suffocating  @mfatta7 We r trapped inside a building  @mfatta7 Armored vehicles outside  @mfatta7 Help we r suffocating  @mfatta7 I will be arrested  @mfatta7 Help !!!  @mfatta7 Arrested  @mfatta7 Ikve [I've] been beaten a lot "

This article discusses the strategies of the FBI in trying to arrest potential jihad recruits. The article discusses several cases of individuals arrested for attempting to join ISIS and the implications involving each case.

Interesting article about challenges social media companies face in preventing and deactivating accounts with content or users linked to terrorist organizations such as ISIS.

This article talks about how women's economic and social empower remains low in 2016. According to the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, gender equality status remains low in terms of economic and social empowerment and violence against women. Though some progress has happened with equality, about a 14% increase in female representatives in the parliamentary elections.

This article describes the position and demands of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party of Egypt. The relationship of the youth protesters with the Egyptian Left was solidified when the Left provided the youth with the political power to make their revolution successful. The Socialist Popular Alliance demands a new constitution and a new government structure that is based on democracy, human rights, and freedoms. Their political position and ideal social structure are very similar to typical American ideals, especially those of the American left political parties. However, the Public Alliance seems very angered over Mubarak's previous friendly relations with Israel. This population feels as though they were forced to abandon the Arab people and support Israel instead of Palestine. This is interesting because Egypt's relations with Israel has garnered tremendous political and economic support from the United States. Having an Arab ally has been an advantageous point of negotiation for Israel and the US. With the Popular Alliance in severe opposition to this position of Israeli sympathy, it is a surprise that they seem to embrace "Americanized" ideas. In addition, it is worth noting that the youth finds a great identity with the Arab culture, although not so much with a specific religion.

The Council on Foreign Relations published an article about democratization in the middle east and the major obstacles that are present in the process. While most assume Islamists and Islamic embedded institutions are the root of the delayed democratic transition, the problems are much bigger than that. While Islamist regimes do indeed stunt the growth of democratic progress in terms of creating a stable government, Arab countries struggle with economic and social factors as well. The Arab Spring Revolutions have caused economic and social degradation across the region, resulting in a road block of political leadership. Without a reliable and capable government structure, the states are unable to progress economically. However, in order to have a stable government, social and economic institutions must be in place to create this capitalist economy that they strive for. Because most wealth resides in oil, the revenue that the states bring in isn't distributed properly throughout society and is concentrated within few business elites. The article stresses that instead of foreign aid going into the hands of an unstable leader or regime, it should be invested in institutions in order to spur economic growth and eliminate corruption. Rather than focusing on the Islamist-secularist divide, the world should be working towards the strengthening of institutions to create a stable foundation for governance. 

This article offers a differing perspective than most, stating that social media was more of a contributing factor in the middle eastern revolutions rather than "the driving force." Another interesting aspect of this article is the fact that it was written very recently. I think it's interesting how the difference of opinion over time on how social media has impacted and is continuing to impact revolutions in this area.

On 25 January 2011 hundreds of thousands of protesters started to gather in Tahrir Square and planted the seeds of unrest which, days later, finally unseated the incumbent president, Hosni Mubarak, after 30 years of power.

For the first time in history, a social movement could be observed in real-time as it spread, coalesced around ideas, and grew exponentially in size and scale across the Internet. That is what News Group International - a Dubai based news management company - discovered in its recent comprehensive analysis of social media surrounding the uprising in Egypt.

Could social media help build another uprising soon? Supporters of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi often claim that Egyptian internet activists are powerless and disconnected from reality. They say that activists are living in their own virtual bubble; however, recent incidents suggest otherwise. When the 'Arab Spring' began in 2011, the role social media played was undeniable.

The author of this article was on NPR Friday discussing the women of Isis and their use of social media. The author stated that whole social media accounts of these women are constantly shut down, they operate several accounts at all times to ensure they spread their message.

This article by the BBC news talks about the recent banning of social media in Turkey. The interesting thing that this article points out is that social media was banned when it was near an election. The fact that they control the flow of information to the citizens around election time is extremely significant, because not being able to communicate about the elections can greatly impact the results.