“La Ikhwan, La Salafia. A Sha’ab Bidu Huriyya.” “No Muslim Brotherhood. No Salafists. The Youth want Freedom.” The language above on the sign held up by a Syrian protester this week encapsulates all the promise, and anxiety, of this moment for Western policy makers watching the Arab revolutions unfold. What kind of freedom? Who will [...]
Archive for the ‘Egypt’ Category
What Comes First: The Dictator or the Fundamentalist?
Posted in 9/11, Al Qaeda, democracy, Egypt, Europe, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Osama, Radical, revolution, September 11, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, youth, tagged 9/11, Al Qaeda, America, democracy, Egypt, elections, Europe, Iraq, Libya, Middle East, mullah, Muslims, Radical, Syria, Tunisia, U.S. Foreign Policy, Yemen, youth on April 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Demonstrations, With Air Support?
Posted in 9/11, Al Qaeda, democracy, Egypt, Europe, Fundamentalism, Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Osama, Radical, revolution, September 11, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, youth, tagged 9/11, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Arab, democracy, Egypt, Europe, Hamas, islam, Libya, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Radical, Saudi Arabia, Taliban, terrorism, Tunisia, U.S. Foreign Policy, youth on March 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“Barack Obama has now fired more cruise missiles than all other Nobel Peace Prize winners combined.” It’s good for a laugh. A cheap laugh. The blogger who wrote this clearly doesn’t have any appreciation for the reality that confronts American presidents on a daily basis. No doubt he or she also did not have any [...]
The Arab Spring: A Tribe Called Youth
Posted in Egypt, Fundamentalism, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, revolution, U.S. Foreign Policy, youth, tagged America, Egypt, islam, Jordan, Middle East, Muslims, revolution, Tunisia, U.S. Foreign Policy, youth on March 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Ibn Khaldun, the great 14th century North African polymath, was the first to give the Arabs a sense of their own history. Before there were universities, before there was even a discipline called the social sciences, Ibn Khaldun plied the Mediterranean world, a resident scholar to kings and sultans from Castile to Cairo, writing his [...]
Development Disrupted
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, democracy, Egypt, Europe, Fundamentalism, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, Women, tagged Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Americans, democracy, Egypt, Iraq, islam, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, U.S. Foreign Policy on October 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In Tamim Ansary’s excellent history, Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes- written in plain, digestable English, not scholar-speak- a particular passage recently struck me as a lost morsel of critical perspective as we wage our “global war against extremism”. In his book, Ansary is talking about the 7th century battle of Uhud, [...]
Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency
Posted in Afghanistan, democracy, Egypt, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, nuclear weapon, Obama, Pakistan, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, Americans, Arab Gulf, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Jordan, mullah, nuclear, Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, Tea Party, U.S. Foreign Policy on September 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This past weekend I hopped on Interstate 95 and rubbernecked my way along stimulus-inspired construction lanes down to colonial Williamsburg, a time-warp back to the days of British empire in America and its discontents. A passion-play called “Revolutionary City” was captivating a crowd of tourists along the former colonial capital’s cobblestone avenues, complete with costumed [...]
The Lost Narrative
Posted in 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Egypt, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Osama, Pakistan, Radical, September 11, Somalia, Sunni, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Radical, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on August 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I won’t attempt to decipher the swirling debate surrounding the manufactured controversy of Park 51, the “mosque” (actually, cultural center modeled on the Jewish YMCA at 92nd Street) “at Ground Zero” (actually, several blocks away, like the other mosques already in the area.). All heat and very little light, it’s clear the only thing this debate [...]
No Reflection, On Both Sides
Posted in 9/11, Al Qaeda, Egypt, Fundamentalism, India, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Pakistan, Radical, September 11, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Palestinians, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on July 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A pair of instances recently reminded me how both sides- the “West” (more specifically, the United States) and the Muslim World- have engaged in so little self-reflection since the events of 9/11. It is much easier to project outward than to take a hard look at your own society. Problems are no longer yours when [...]
Fighting Extremism: Harnessing our Strengths
Posted in Al Qaeda, Egypt, Fundamentalism, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on May 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
One wonders what would have happened if the Times Square car bomb attempt had occurred in Phoenix instead of the teeming, diverse neighborhoods of NYC. What if the street vendors who tipped off police with vital information that eventually led to Faisal Shahzad’s capture (by his shoe laces) were Latino instead of African-American? Given Arizona’s [...]
Yes, The Path Does Run Through Jerusalem
Posted in Al Qaeda, democracy, Egypt, elections, Fundamentalism, Hamas, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Al Qaeda, America, democracy, Egypt, elections, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, Palestinians, Radical, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on April 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Jackson Diehl likes to talk about the futility of a dead Middle East peace process. Like most opinion leaders in our American media, he blames this squarely on a divided Palestinian leadership and an Arab world rife with corrupt autocracies unwilling to compromise. Now is not the time to push major initiatives, he argues. [...]
Strange Bedfellows
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Egypt, elections, Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Sunni, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Egypt, elections, Hamas, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Palestinians, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on April 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
You wonder what Afghan president Hamid Karzai was thinking over the past several days as he unleashed a fusillade of vitriol against his primary benefactor, the United States. His comments, such as “foreigners” were responsible for the presidential election fraud that declared him the outright winner, or that he was prepared to join the Taliban [...]
