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US-Arab disconnect: Revolutions restate region's priorities by Ramzy Baroud* - 0 views

www.todayszaman.com/iorities-by-ramzy-baroud*.html opinion analysis arabspring US USA media politics diplomacy
shared by Ed Webb on 28 Aug 11 - No Cached
  • the language spoken by the US and that by Arab dictators is largely absent from the lexicon of oppressed, ordinary Arabs aspiring for their long-denied basic rights. Arabs are not unified by the narratives of al-Qaeda or the US. They are united by other factors that often escape Western commentators and officials. Aside from shared histories, religions, language and a collective sense of belonging, they also have in common their experiences of oppression, alienation, injustice and inequality.
  • the al-Qaeda model never captured the imagination of mainstream Arab society. Arab revolutions didn’t challenge Arab society’s perception of al-Qaeda, for the latter had barely occupied even a tiny space of the collective Arab imagination.
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New U.S. ambassador faces cooler relations in Egypt | McClatchy - 0 views

www.mcclatchydc.com/...t-gives-new-us-ambassador.html Egypt US diplomacy democratization
shared by Ed Webb on 18 Aug 11 - No Cached
  • How the United States supports Egypt's transition to democracy is exactly what worries Tantawi and his underlings on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has run Egypt by decree since Mubarak's fall. The generals, reportedly still miffed at Washington for giving up on Mubarak during the revolt, are furious with U.S. efforts to fund pro-democracy groups in Egypt by circumventing government channels. Scathing stories about American interference in Egypt crop up regularly in local papers, fueling xenophobia and scaring off fledgling nonprofits that otherwise would be receptive to American aid. The United States hasn't fared any better with the millions of anti-Mubarak protesters who are now coalescing into political parties in preparation for parliamentary elections in November. During the 18-day uprising that preceded Mubarak's resignation, chants against America were common, with young Egyptians pointing angrily to the "Made in USA" stamps on the tear-gas canisters that Mubarak's forces fired at them. A Gallup poll released earlier this year found that 75 percent of Egyptians oppose American aid to political groups and that two-thirds think the U.S. isn't serious about encouraging democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.
  • In June, the military council rejected a proposed budget from its civilian ministers because of its dependence on aid from the United States and other foreign donors
  • Patterson and her superiors in Washington must recognize that the military council and whatever elected government succeeds it will be accountable to the public in a way that was unfathomable in Mubarak's day
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Turkey Warns Syria to Stop Crackdown Immediately - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...16turkey.html Turkey Syria
shared by Ed Webb on 17 Aug 11 - No Cached
  • “This is our final word to the Syrian authorities: Our first expectation is that these operations stop immediately and unconditionally,” Mr. Davutoglu said at a news conference in Ankara, the Turkish capital. “If the operations do not end, there would be nothing more to discuss about steps that would be taken,” he said, without saying what that action might include.
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Syria Recognizes State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as Capital - 1 views

english.cri.cn/...197s649152.htm Israel Palestine Syria diplomacy statehood
shared by Ed Webb on 18 Jul 11 - No Cached
  • Ed Webb on 18 Jul 11
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Palestine's Date with the United Nations « The Osarseph Report - 1 views

theosarsephreport.wordpress.com/...s-date-with-the-united-nations MEPP Israel Palestine israelpalestine US USA UN UNSC diplomacy statehood opinion analysis
shared by Ed Webb on 18 Jul 11 - No Cached
  • Ed Webb on 18 Jul 11
     
    Analysis from Dickinson College alumnus
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Netanyahu's big fat Greek Wedding - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News - 1 views

www.haaretz.com/...big-fat-greek-wedding-1.370794 Israel Greece Turkey diplomacy
shared by Ed Webb on 02 Jul 11 - No Cached
  • Netanyahu took advantage of their chance encounter to speak with the Greek prime minister about Turkish extremism against Israel and the two quickly became friends
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 02 Jul 11
       
      'Extremism'? Really?
  • “Netanyahu has become Greece’s lobbyist to the European Union,”
    • Ed Webb
      Ed Webb on 02 Jul 11
       
      How does that work? Why would/should EU leaders listen to Bibi rather than directly to one of their colleagues?
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Buying Into Palestinian Statehood - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...25iht-edalpher25.html MEPP opinion israelpalestine Israel Palestine
shared by Ed Webb on 25 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • What is described in some quarters as a recipe for new strife and confrontation can actually be leveraged into a win-win situation for Israelis, Palestinians and the world
  • opting to convert an intractable conflict between a state and a liberation movement into a state-to-state conflict with manageable parameters
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Bahraini military court imposes harsh sentences on dissenters | McClatchy - 0 views

www.mcclatchydc.com/...ain-sentences-8-political.html Bahrain sectarianism US UK diplomacy arabspring reform rights
shared by Ed Webb on 23 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Britain’s Foreign Office decried the outcome. “It is deeply worrying that civilians are being tried before tribunals chaired by a military judge, with reports of abuse in detention, lack of access to legal counsel and coerced confessions,” Minister Alistair Burt said. The U.S. State Department was more cautious, saying it was “concerned about the severity of the sentences handed down” and about the use of military courts to try civilians. Nabeel Rajab, Bahrain’s most outspoken human rights advocate, told McClatchy that all 21 people “were targeted for their opinions and their political views, for opposing government policy.” He said all “were tortured, many subject to electric shock, many sexually harassed and all were deprived of the normal access to lawyers and families.”
  • At least 31 people were killed in the violence on the island, and more confrontations seem likely after the sentencing, putting an enormous question mark over a national dialogue between government and opposition that's due to begin July 1.“These sentences today are another indication that the ruling family of Bahrain are completely non-serious about this dialogue,” said Joe Stork, who follows Bahrain closely for Human Rights Watch, the independent U.S. human rights watchdog group. “There are people (in this group) who represent a portion of the political spectrum. Their views should be represented.”Rajab, a one-man human rights watchdog in Bahrain, concurred. “A big part of the people who should be at the table have been sentenced to many years,” he said. “With whom will you have a dialogue?”
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Turkish Populism Goes to the Polls | Foreign Affairs - 0 views

www.foreignaffairs.com/...ish-populism-goes-to-the-polls Turkey EU US USA diplomacy foreignpolicy
shared by Ed Webb on 19 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Amid the political turmoil sweeping the Middle East, there are signs that the populist and anti-Western strand in Turkey's foreign policy may have run its course
  • Building on the work of its predecessors, the AKP government replaced a foreign policy based on security with one focused on engagement, soft power, and trade, in the process diffusing tensions with neighboring countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Syria (known as the "zero problems" policy).
  • Never before in Turkey's modern history has foreign policy been so directly wedded to domestic politics: The architects of Turkey's foreign policy used to answer to the generals; these days, policymakers answer to the public. And never before has a Turkish government staked so much of its reputation on its international accomplishments, real or hypothetical.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • especially in the wake of Turkey's response to the Mavi Marmara incident, a number of U.S. congressmen withdrew their support for Ankara on important policy issues. For example, Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) argued that Turkey's membership in NATO should be "called into question," while Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), threatened to speak "actively" against Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
  • Yet the populism inherent in the AKP's foreign policy has a hidden danger: Fuelling anti-Western and anti-Israeli sentiment may win Erdogan a few nationalist or Islamist votes, but it is also costing him some valuable friends, from European politicians to the U.S. congressional representatives.
  • With support for joining the European Union among Turks plummeting from 71 percent in 2004 to 47 percent last year, according to a Eurobarometer poll, there are few votes to be won by campaigning in favor of EU accession.
  • Under the AKP, the Turkish government has inserted identity politics, particularly religion, into foreign policy. (It is revealing that Erdogan refers to Europeans as "partners" or "friends" but to Arabs and Iranians as "brothers.") Two years ago, Erdogan proclaimed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, innocent of genocide -- Muslims, he argued, "are incapable of such a thing." At the same time, Ankara, quick to condemn any use of force by Israelis, has been much more indulgent toward its Arab allies, Syria and Libya included. Turkey has struggled to formulate a coherent response to the uprisings shaking the Arab world. Erdogan was one of the first world leaders to call on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down, yet one of the last to ask the same of Libya's Qaddafi. In Syria, meanwhile, the Turkish government remains unable to let go of Bashar al-Assad: It has condemned the violence but not the perpetrator. This paralysis reveals an unintended consequence of both deepening ties with autocratic regimes in the Arab world and establishing credibility in the eyes of Arab populations. As Davutoğlu himself told journalists in May, "We have felt the pressure of being entrapped between the two successes."
  • With the Middle East in flames and the limits of its leverage in the region laid bare, Turkey may have no choice but to reengage with the European Union and the United States. The policy of "zero problems" has not really worked out too well with Qaddafi and Assad. It might be time to try it out with the West.
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Turkey says Syria only has a few days left to get its act together - 0 views

www.todayszaman.com/t-to-get-its-act-together.html Syria Turkey revolutions diplomacy AKP
shared by Ed Webb on 18 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • The strongest message yet to the Syrian leadership was conveyed by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who spoke with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's special envoy, Hassan Turkmani, earlier this week. “We underlined that Turkish support to Syria hinges on the willingness of the Syrian government to adopt sweeping reforms in the country. We detailed our suggestions before and even relayed a written proposal to Damascus on how they should proceed to stabilize the country,” the source explained.
  • “We want a strong, stable, prosperous Syria. To achieve this we believe it is necessary to implement the comprehensive reform process towards democratization guaranteed by [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad,” Davutoğlu told reporters after three hours of talks with Turkmani on Thursday morning. “In order to achieve this, the violence must stop immediately. Yesterday I clearly saw the fear in the eyes of the people, and I shared this,” he added, describing talks with Turkmani as friendly and Syria as Turkey's “closest friend.”
  • Diplomatic sources said the prime minister spoke over the phone with his Lebanese counterpart, Najib Mikati, with respect to violence in Syria. Erdoğan also had talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Erdoğan is expected to pay an official visit to Egypt soon and a visit to Syria is also in the planning stages.
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These Limestone Walls: The Arab Spring and Climate Change: A New Dialogue on Sustainabi... - 0 views

limestonewalls.blogspot.com/...ng-and-climate-change-new.html climate sustainability Arabs MENA arabspring opinion blog oil energy
shared by Ed Webb on 17 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Ed Webb on 17 Jun 11
     
    Dickinson student on US oil dependence
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SCO security summit: Are China and Russia losing patience with Ahmadinejad? - CSMonitor... - 0 views

www.csmonitor.com/...sing-patience-with-Ahmadinejad Iran Russia China security diplomacy
shared by Ed Webb on 17 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Russian experts say listening to an Ahmadinejad speech is a small price to pay for keeping some diplomatic lines open with Iran which, no matter how it is viewed, is an extremely important regional player.
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