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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.

In this article we get to see why many Western women decide to join ISIS. Up to this point we have only seen the point of view of the ISIS men and not the women, so this article gives us a bit of an insight into the women's world According to this article we see that the ISIS women use social media in order to help other women that want to join and/or also trying to express their views about the world around them.

Women's rights are still on the path to improvement. Many wonder what will happen. In this article this is discussed along with other important points about women being involved in the Arab Spring and still not given equality.

Women's rights are still on the path to improvement. Many wonder what will happen. In this article this is discussed along with other important points about women being involved in the Arab Spring and still not given equality.

This article from the Global Research Center for Globalization looks at the relationship with Islam and it's negative portrayal in the media. This is an important view because it looks at this relationship from both points of view.

This article from the Global Research Center for Globalization looks at the relationship with Islam and it's negative portrayal in the media. This is an important view because it looks at this relationship from both points of view.

Assad is pointing the finger at Turkey and Saudi Arabia. He claims that Erdogan's forces are heavily involved in Syria, and that they are "crossing a red line." I will be curious to follow the relations between these two countries.

This article takes an interesting look at the current trend pointing towards a single-state solution. This 2010 Dissent article states that the overall drive for a separate Palestinian state is dwindling as the PLO's own strength dwindles as well.

What does the term "human shield" mean? The term is used by critics of Hamas to imply that Hamas militants hide behind unwilling hostages, or especially that they cower behind women and children. If it's a fact that Hamas uses "human shields," who they are, what they're protecting, and why seem to be more salient points for analysis.

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.

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 explores the idea that the Constitution with Ba'ath Party intentions and ideology, intertwined in every word, allows for unlimited actions that Assad could take. It is at the point where the president could constitutionally change the Constitution simply if all of his demands are not met.

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.

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 is about how the Islamic State is being funded by wealthy gulf. These investor are described to be like "angle investors".The money that they receive from these investors is just a jumping off point, then the group finds other ways to get money like "kidnapping, oil smuggling, selling women into slavery."

Author Heba Elsayed gives a preview of the study she conducted to observe the lower middle class in Cairo. Elsayed describes Cairo as a microcosm of globalization in urban centers. She describes the unique role of Cosmopolitanism in analyzing trends of globalization. She focuses on the lower middle class who, she says, plays the biggest role in incorporating multiple viewpoints in daily life rather than practicing exclusivity like the upper middle class. In addition, she describes cosmopolitanism in terms of internal heterogeneity, describing an 'onion model' of the world, in which the local and national form the core and inner layers and the international and global form the outer layers. She also mentions that nation-states can no longer be regarded as the primary reference point for global citizenry.

This article focuses mainly on statistics and what is common following King Abdullah reign in regards to women's rights. One point the article makes is the inability for women, even educated women, in Saudi Arabia to find jobs. Of the jobs women do possess a very small percentage is held in political careers.