Group items tagged

This article begins by illuminating the regional democracy assistance cuts that are dropping from $459.2 million to $298.3 million It explains that the Bush Administration began the quest for democracy in the Middle East, and the Obama administration has only continued in his footsteps. The author presents the viewpoint that the U.S. approach to Arab democratization has been in the form of "ad-hoc crisis management" rather than "large scale reform initiatives." Promoting democracy in the form of democratic politics are insufficient, elections and political parties have consistently proved to weather away and fester further civil strife. Consequently, the article proposes a new approach to the region conflict. This approach calls for "systematic reforms" focusing on basic institutions such as the civil service sector, justice and law enforcement, and the military's role in governance. The idea is that addressing these lacking departments in the arab world will eventually pave the way to a smoother democratic transition. 

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. 

Taking on an extreme islamist perspective, women in Saudi Arabia are given a vast array of restriction in every aspect of their lives. This article list eleven specific restrictions imposed on women in Saudi Arabia including: swimming, voting, and driving a car.

Taking on an extreme islamist perspective, women in Saudi Arabia are given a vast array of restriction in every aspect of their lives. This article list eleven specific restrictions imposed on women in Saudi Arabia including: swimming, voting, and driving a car.

I read this article and I am not sure if it accurate. Being from Saudi Arabia and reading this, its kind of offensive. The article made up stuff that saudi Arabia women can not do

This article talks about the women of ISIS and what are some factors that lead to them joining ISIS or other rebellion armies around the world. The article also speaks about how for women, gender and politics overlap in a way that is doesn't for men. Sometimes in times of conflict women have to join these group in order to survive. 

This article states that if Bashar al Assad's use of chemical weapons in a suburb is true then why isn't the United States acting to protect the Syrian civilians. This article, contrary to the one I posted earlier, says that Syria is legally at fault in regards to chemical warfare because they signed the Geneva Convention.

Another article addressing the recent destruction of Libyan oil fields, the Wall Street Journal points a more direct finger at the Islamic State. This article suggests that militant groups do not have the expertise to take advantage of the oil fields themselves,; therefore, they destroy the oil fields in an attempt to keep rival political factions from using the oil fields to their advantage.

This article discusses issues with the women's inequality in Saudi Arabia. One issue it discusses that I did not take into consideration yet is the domestic abuse women face by their fathers and husbands. This article takes a slightly deeper look into the way the laws against women's rights affect them.

This is an article about an Israeli political cartoon that depicts an Israeli plane flying towards a US tower. The article discusses how this is very thoughtless on the Israeli side and does't understand the magnitude of 9/11. 

This is hands down the most helpful article I have read when it comes to trying to get a grasp on the issues Saudi women face. It covers many bases including that of a woman who does not want women's rights to be changed and even goes so far as to wish great punishment on activists. The article includes some information on activists of varying degrees including a teacher, a blogger, a YouTube video maker, and more.

In this Slate article, the author dives in deeper to comments made by Netanyahu in the lead up to the final day of elections. Touching on the issue of no Palestinian state, the author spends most of the article pointing out Netanyahu's blatant bigotry against the Arab people who make up 20% of Israel.

A Reuters article discussing the possible cease fire/truce that is supposed to occur over the weekend. The article does a good job of highlighting the uncertainty amongst various groups as to what the terms of the deal will be.

This article gives a historical evidence of the many fractures in the Muslim Brotherhood. It also walks those internal issues all the way down to 2011 which is when the article was written.

Women after the Arab Spring are still awaiting their rights. This article presents what has happened with women's rights in various countries including Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria.

Women after the Arab Spring are still awaiting their rights. This article presents what has happened with women's rights in various countries including Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria.

This article is a response to International Women's Day, saying that gender equality doesn't exist in the world. In the middle of the article, they show a chart of the gender gap between men and women. Egypt is last in the chart.

This article goes into depth about the inequality in the Middle East which extends to today. This looks at the ideas of democratization which would promote higher education. Greater rights for women. and improve infant morality rates 

Another issue Turkey is constantly dealing with, is the problem with the thousands of Syrian refugees at their border, in addition to the mini-civil war w/the Kurds, and its questionable oil business with ISIS. This article points out Erdogan's requests for the EU to deliver more funds to control the border situation. Different point of view from the other two articles I bookmarked this week.

This article discusses the issue of censorship. By talking with Egyptian novelist Khaled al-Berry, presented is the idea of a strong hope for less censorship because the January 25th revolutions had opened up a future of possibilities and challenges for Egyptian literature. While in previous years there had been no actual direct political censorship, publishers would attempt both religious and moral censorship as a means to protect people. While the article does discuss that there will always be censorship, they also look forward to a culture that values art and reading that will change the perspective of the culture.

This article gives a description of the state of Egypt's once thriving Tahrir Square, just two years after the revolution. The mood of Tahrir Square has changed dramatically and is now solemn rather than buzzing with enthusiasm. The young activists interviewed in the article expressed their regret for the revolution or how it turned out. The youth population is still struggling for economic revival after two years of revolution. Mass unemployment is hitting the large youth population the hardest, which is still a source of anger. The majority of this population does not have adequate skills for the available job market.

This article is from the point of view of an anthropologist who was brought in as a cultural consultant to mediate an issue of "watsa" for a corporation in the Middle East. The company prides itself on its lack of internal corruption, and in turn hired a man named Girgis who grew up in the Middle East but lived and received an education in the US. In Girgis's first year he hired one of his cousins, which the supervisors saw as corrupt hiring practice. The author, and hired consultant, explained to the company supervisors that watsa was an "investment and return" framework in Arab culture, and that there are economic parallels between Arab families and businesses, families existing as economic units. Girgis conveyed that anywhere else in the world he would run the office by the book, but in the Arab world he must also adhere to social norms. The result of watsa through Arab eyes leads to greater loyalty, and less likelihood for deception and theft. The article basically introduces the idea that while in the Western world this may be seen as corruption, it is an embedded part of culture in the Middle East. 

This article describe how cartoonists are the first to depict the new president, Abdel Sisi, and the important role cartoonists have in society. The main cartoonists the article follows are Mohamed Anwar and Andeel who work for Al-Masry Al-Youm in Egypt.