FADED HOPESDID OBAMA'S PROMISE TRIGGER THE ARAB REVOLT?By FRANKLIN C. SPINNEYJanuary 31, 2011During his brilliantly run campaign of 2008, Barack Obama electrified the world with vague promises of change in foreign policy as well as domestic policy. (My take on his campaign strategy can be found here.) Two and a half years later, those promises are ashes. Nowhere is that clearer in foreign policy than in the Arab world. In contrast to the euphoria surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Arab Revolt of 2011 leaves one with a disquieting sense...
Monday, 31 January 2011
AMERICAN CONFUSION
AMERICAN CONFUSIONA STRATEGIC CROSSROADS IN THE MIDDLE EASTBy NICOLA NASSERJanuary 31, 2011The Arab world is the beating heart of the overwhelmingly Muslim Middle East, and the Arab masses are angrily moving for a change in the status quo, practically dictated by the military, economic or political hegemony of the United States, which in turn is whipped by the regional power of the Israeli U.S. strategic ally. But any change in the regional status quo would place the Middle East at a strategic crossroads that is not expected to be viewed tolerantly...
IS THE GAME REALLY OVER FOR MUBARAK?
IS THE GAME REALLY OVER FOR MUBARAK?THE POINT OF NO RETURNBy RON JACOBSJanuary 31, 2011As I write this on January 31, 2011, Al-Jazeera English is ireporting that six of its reporters have been arrested by the Egyptian military. Meanwhile there has been ongoing speculation as to whether or not the Egyptian military will support the ongoing protests against the Mubarak regime. The live video feed via internet is broadcasting protests across the nation. The protests are growing in front of the camera's eye. The old Mubarak cabinet has been dismissed...
THE NEW ARAB REVOLTS
THE NEW ARAB REVOLTSAN INTERVIEW WITH VIJAY PRASHADBy POTHIK GHOSHJanuary 31, 2011Vijay Prashad is the George and Martha Kellner Chair of South Asian History and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT His most recent book, The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World, won the Muzaffar Ahmad Book Prize for 2009.Pothik Ghosh (PG): In what sense can the recent events in the Arab World be called revolutions? How are they different from the colour revolutions of the past two decades?Vijay Prashad (VP): All revolutions...
REBELLING AGAINST THE SHAM DEMOCRACIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST
REBELLING AGAINST THE SHAM DEMOCRACIES OF THE MIDDLE EASTWHEN THE ARAB STREET ENFORCES THE CONSTITUTIONBy LIAQUAT ALI KHANJanuary 31, 2011The peoples’ revolution is brewing in Tunisia, Yemen, and Egypt. These nations, unlike the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have established state constitutions that promise a democratic form of government and espouse the principle of popular sovereignty. Article 3 of the Tunisia Constitution declares that “The sovereignty belongs to the Tunisian People who exercise it in conformity with the Constitution.”Article 4 of...
A WIKILEAK ON THE US AND AL- JAZEERA
A WIKILEAK ON THE US AND AL- JAZEERABLAMING AND (KILLING) THE MESSENGERBy KATHLEEN CHRISTISONJanuary 31, 2011The United States has had it in for al-Jazeera at least since 2000, when the Qatar-based news network began reporting on Israel’s harsh treatment of Palestinians during the intifada and, a year later, covered the start of U.S. war-making in the Middle East, revealing to the Arab world a graphic picture of U.S. and Israeli brutality. During the Iraq war, U.S. planes bombed the al-Jazeera station in Baghdad and killed one of its correspondents,...
THE TORTURE CAREER OF EGYPT'S NEW VICE PRESIDENT
THE TORTURE CAREER OF EGYPT'S NEW VICE PRESIDENTOMAR SULEIMAN AND THE RENDITION TO TORTUREBy STEPHEN SOLDZJanuary 31, 2011In response to the mass protests of recent days, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has appointed his first Vice President in his over 30 years rule, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. When Suleiman was first announced, Aljazeera commentators were describing him as a "distinguished" and "respected " man. It turns out, however, that he is distinguished for, among other things, his central role in Egyptian torture and in the US rendition...
Saturday, 29 January 2011
THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION
THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION A VERY FINE THINGBy GARY LEUPPWeekend EditionJanuary 28 - 30, 2011January 28, 2011, Day of Rage.I’m watching live coverage of the Egyptian revolution on Al-Jazeera TV. Cairo is swarming with hundreds of thousands, defying the curfew, hurling stones at the police. The images recall the Palestinian youth waging their Intifadas. The National Democratic Party headquarters is in flames. Downtown Suez has been taken over by the people, two police stations torched. The security forces are out in strength and shooting into crowds....
Friday, 28 January 2011
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAMIn Morocco, each year thousands of young girls from poor families are sent to work in houses in the city. They are often ill-treated and exploited. No official numbers exist, but one non-governmental organisation called Dari has counted 23,000 child maids in Casablanca alone. Halima is one of them. When she was 8 years old, her family sent her to Casablanca to work as a maid. Her father had some financial trouble, so he got in touch with an intermediary whose job was to find maids for rich families. The little...
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM Traditionally, the idea of a working woman was not accepted by many people; they saw it as a radical change in family life. The reasons were simple: a woman’s place is at home. Who is going to clean, cook, feed the kids and look after them?Batool, a 29-year-old Kuwaiti pharmacist and mother of two children says: "I feel guilty." Now that my eldest daughter is going to school, I’m starting to have second thoughts about being a career woman." She says that when she was a kid, her mother would wake her up...
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM Dropping out of school is a serious problem in Morocco. Each year, nearly 200,000 children leave school before completing their primary education. A new government initiative in morocco offers some measures to reduce the number of students who withdraw from school. This initiative is part of an awareness campaign targeting parents.Researchers and government officials largely attribute the phenomenon to the ignorance of poor parents who do not realise the importance of education. Some parents, for example,...
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM Morocco’s street children live a difficult life, often filled with harmful drugs and crime. Efforts to reintegrate them into families and schools are somewhat successful but experts say the problem is large and its root lies in poverty and difficult social circumstances.Othmane left his home and school at the age of fourteen to live on the street. He no longer wanted to see his mother fight the daily battle to get bread for his five little siblings and pay for his school expenses. "The street is not a better...
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM
THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAMThe Economic Commission for Africa estimates that between 1960 and 1989, some 127,000 highly qualified African professionals left Africa. According to the International Organisation for Migration, Africa has been losing 20,000 professionals each year since 1990. This has raised claims that the continent is dying a slow death from brain drain which has financial, institutional, and societal costs. African countries get little return from their investment in higher education, since too many graduated leave or...
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