Group items tagged

This is an article about Yugoslavia which doesn't want the interference of NATO in their lives any more. NATO and Yugoslavia gets into details about foreign policy 

The fighting in Syria and Iraq has expanded and gained more foreign fighters from many more countries around the world. 

This article discusses a man who was so inspired and impacted by the use of facebook and other social media aspects and how they played a part in middle eastern revolutions that he named his daughter facebook. This really demonstrates how deeply social media really impacted the lives of the everyday people in this area.

This message shows how everyone around the world, not just government, is concerned about the Syrian crisis. 

According to ISIS, an Australian teen named Jake Bilardi, who defected and joined the rebel group sometime late last year, drove a van containing a suicide bomb into an Iraqi army outpost yesterday as part of a series of attacks that killed 17 and injured 38 in Iraq's Anbar Province.

According to ISIS, an Australian teen named Jake Bilardi, who defected and joined the rebel group sometime late last year, drove a van containing a suicide bomb into an Iraqi army outpost yesterday as part of a series of attacks that killed 17 and injured 38 in Iraq's Anbar Province.

Women in Saudi Arabia have many laws and guidelines by which they are forced to abide by. This video interviews a woman named Sarah Birke who gives insight into what she has witnesses as a correspondent in the middle east. Burke discusses laws that women are forced to follow as well as the changes that are slowing beginning to take hold, specifically in regards to Saudi women driving.

Women in Saudi Arabia have many laws and guidelines by which they are forced to abide by. This video interviews a woman named Sarah Birke who gives insight into what she has witnesses as a correspondent in the middle east. Burke discusses laws that women are forced to follow as well as the changes that are slowing beginning to take hold, specifically in regards to Saudi women driving.

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. 

Activists who led the 2011 revolt reflect on growing disillusionment with prospects for positive social change. A vast majority of the youth have become apathetic toward any political policies. In the vote for the constitutional referendum, the youth mainly acted in boycott and did not participate in the voting. In addition, the Egyptian media outlets have been accused of participating in a smear campaign against the activists that led the 2011 revolution. Wael Ghonim, for example, has had to handle his public image as he has been accused of benefiting from the revolt that he helped to orchestrate. A blogger, who goes by the name "Sandmonkey" accused the older generations of resisting change. He claims they act on their own accord even when they have no plausible or other alternative solutions. He points out that the youth represents 70% of the population but receives no official representation and only pity from the older generation who continues to make decisions on their behalf.

This article, from the Times, discusses the transition seen in Saudi Arabia after the death of Kind Abdullah. It specifically discusses the story of a woman, named Loujain Al Hathloul, who drove illegally and was stopped by police. The police took her passport and refused to let her drive. She took to Twitter about the experience as she sat for about a day in her car until she was arrested.

After the heated argument Ben Affleck had with Real Time host Bill Maher, people are still debating the topic of Islam in the world. A Muslim woman named Eiynah has entered the discussion, and directed her opinion of the often archaic nature of Islam in an open letter to Affleck, which was posted on Pakistan Today : Dear Ben, I am writing to you today as a woman who was born and raised in Islam. This topic is interesting because liberals in the West are so annoyed by the rhetoric that comes from bigoted sources; while Affleck was standing up for what he believes in, the writer suggests he should have gone about it in a different way. It's just also unfortunate that many are quick to judge and condemn a faith even though other faiths have had just as many problems (and have supported immoral practices) throughout history. However its still important to bring up and try to make solutions for human rights crisis that take place based on Sharia law.

After the heated argument Ben Affleck had with Real Time host Bill Maher, people are still debating the topic of Islam in the world. A Muslim woman named Eiynah has entered the discussion, and directed her opinion of the often archaic nature of Islam in an open letter to Affleck, which was posted on Pakistan Today : Dear Ben, I am writing to you today as a woman who was born and raised in Islam. This topic was interesting because liberals in America have to deal with bigoted rhetoric all the time and its frustrating. While the author of the letter was proud of Affleck for standing up for Islamic people and what he believes is right, she suggests he just go about it in a different way because discussions of human right violations in the Middle East should still be called out.

This link tells the story of a woman named Salma. Salma was sold at the age of 13 to an elderly man. She was then abused for 17 years and then divorced, the ex husband taking the children. This is one example of gender inequality and lack of a decent legal system and protective laws. I am not saying that all marriages are bad but stores such as this are horrendous and actions should be taken to prevent it from happening in the future.

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.

The European Union is having some issues with Syrian refugees not staying in the country to where they first applied for asylum. This, and the ever growing number of Syrian refugees in Europe, has lead to a call to reform the Dublin Law. 

US general Philip Breedlove is worried that the Syrian Refugees who are being dispersed throughout Europe and to the United States are causing the terror group of ISIS to "spread like cancer". He blames the Russian bombing in the name of Assad for causing this because civilians are forced to leave their land and are further pushed toward no other choice but joining ISIS.

This article talks about a senior figure of ISIS by the name of Tarkhan Batirashvili. It turns out, one of the big figures at the head of ISIS is far from Syrian, as he is a Chechen that served in the US-trained Georgian army.