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This article gave a great general overview to the education in Lebanon. One of the major components of Lebanon's education system is when they changed it 1999 to reflect the style of French education systems. Additionally, Lebanon has a high rate of 95% attendance for its students and it also has a high rate of literacy at 89%

This article goes into great depth about Jordan Educational systems. Things such as public vs private, which still use the same books, and single sex schools. It also talks about public and two-year junior college education system. 

The kafala system is used to monitor migrant laborers in parts of the Middle East. The system works by requiring the unskilled laborers to have an in-country sponsor who is responsible for their visa and legal status. This system is often criticized because it creates easy opportunities for the employers to exploit the workers.

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 goes into the education systems in Egypt. This discusses the past times of children as well while they are in school. The education system is relatively free if attending a government-run school.

This piece is about the education reform K-12 in Qatar. The program has started to use local education supplies to create a better community attitude toward education. Their have been efforts to create a universal curriculum and higher evaluation and testing. 

Not only do Saudi Arabian women have many laws to abide by they also have an unjust legal system when it comes to their punishments. In this article, a case is discussed in which a woman went out with a man that was not her husband. While out, she was raped by 7 men. Although her attackers were punished, the woman was also punished for having been out with a man that was not her husband and was sentenced to 90 lashes.

I really enjoyed this article. It talks about major flaws as well as positivity from the American education system, comparing it to the education system in Egypt. It focuses more on the tuition in Universities and how that affects young students.

This article depicts a very real and recent trauma that Yemen is undergoing; their healthcare system and facilities, much like other poorer middle eastern countries, is on the brink of extinction. This raised the question that we have been discussing in class; would foreign aid eliminate poverty? While there are millions in Yemen starving, would it be justified to provide their country with aid as more developed countries are supplying refugee camps in Jordan and Syrian rebels?

Very interesting article. Does not really pertain to the middle east, but it explores a controversy in globalization by talking about a city in India that is completely privatized. It explores privatization of services vs municipalization.

In the Middle East there is a lack of focus on culture in education. it focuses on the history of the "winners" and is promoting hate and ignorance in the education system. These issues have popped up before the Minister of Education since 1997. 

This article looks more at the failings of education in Egypt. Public schools carry most of the students, but lack proper facilities. There is more than just "Public, Private, and Charter" schools in Egypt

This is an interesting article concerning Minister Naftali Bennet. He will empowering Eastern Jewish Cultural Studies within the general curriculum. This would be a way to de-stigmatize Judaism and help with interfaith commuication

This article is about the improvement of education in Yemen. Yemen is a very poor country with a large population growth. These programs have created platforms and finances to attract teachers, advocates for girls groups, advocates for education, and have pushed the literacy rate up towards 90%

Mark Dubowitz and Eric Lorber explain why Iran should not have access to U.S. funding. It would allow for them to get away with bad behavior and put the U.S in even more binds.

Parent company of the firm in Egypt that set up the social media monitoring system for the Egyptian intelligence and security agencies.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spoke at the World Economic Forum about the world's lack of assistance in the transition to democracy in the Middle East and how that ultimately facilitated the birth of ISIL. He explains how a number of EU states were able to maneuver into the democratic realm with the assistance and guidance of the EU, illuminating the idea that the Middle East should be no different. Davutoglu condemns the west for abandoning Middle Eastern states in their dire time of need. While countries around the world supported the Arab Spring, they did nothing to support or finance it to success. He says it would be wrong to correlate the birth of ISIL with Islam, explaining how Islamic communities are perfectly capable of embracing democratic systems. However, assistance in its implementation is vital.

Under King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia has modernized key aspects of the Saudi justice system and also other aspects. so this article talks about the crisis might happened when king Abdullah dies.

This week, the country's judicial system came under fresh scrutiny after refusing to reinstate 138 state prosecutors who recently graduated from law school, but whose parents lacked university degrees. The September 2013 ruling is an example of the institutionalized classism in Egypt that many are unhappy with. Due to the policies of Sisi, the Dhank movement arose in protest by the poor who demand to be heard. Although this movement has been previously associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and thus not very popular, it could be the beginning of a broader mobilization of the poor in Egyptian politics. The head of the Garbage Collector's Union warned that if the president ignores these movements, there could be a "revolution of the hungry."