Get Pumped.

so...we have the turn-in date for the final paper coming up and we have our presentations coming up.
It's going to be a stressful time, my fellow classmates.
Just remember the words of great IR mind, R.Kelly
"If I can see it then I can do it."
Cheers.

Reflection #10

Over Thanksgiving Break I returned to my small hometown on the Connecticut shoreline. It was great to see friends and family, but at the same time, it was a strange experience to be back with friends from high school who have almost no interest in international affairs and especially the current events in the Middle East. Both the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the controversy in Egypt over Presidents Morsi’s power have been in the news a lot, but my friends back home had no idea what was going on when I tried to talk to them about the issues or get their opinions. I take for granted how great it is to be at a university where so many people are interested in the same things as me and love discussing them. I found it sad that many of my old friends didn’t know what was going on and frankly did not care. It was frustrating to try to talk with them because they brushed off the issues with little thought. Being back home made me realize how many Americans, both young and old, don’t understand many of the issues in the MENA region. It seems like I’ve been spoiled at American with so many informed and interested people, and forgot that everyone else isn’t the same. I look forward to class on Thursday so we can discuss the developments in the region since we last met! 

Reflection #10- Hanna

OOO Morsi is being a trouble-maker.
I am very interested to see if this development will turn the new thought process of Prof. Hardig's friends in Lebanon once again.
The French Revolution and the Cuban Revolution, both had these same outcomes. A democratic revolution leads to the voting in of a popularly supported leader. Then power is centralized to protect the revolution and they become dictators too!
If we have seen this in history before, than why is it happening again. Why do people believe this revolution to be any different? From the reaction of the people, I am hoping that this will be different and that the people will revolt again and assure that they will not stand for centralized power.
We can see this going down two paths- Cuba or France.
If it goes down the path of Cuba, Morsi will become just another dictator. Egypt will continue to oppressed, if not further.
If it goes down the path of France, Morsi will still become a dictator. The hope of this though, is that it will not last. The mantra, "If at first we don't succeed, try try again." is fitting to the mentality in Egypt. This revolution has not been a 100% success but most never have been. Try Try Again. If the people keep pushing for complete democracy, then they will eventually recieve it, even if it takes some time.

Reflection

After doing the structured response this week, I was looking for an article to reflect on and found one about Twitter and what is being said about the battle between Hamas and Israel. On both sides, military operations are being tweeted in almost real time. The Israeli military began ‘live-tweeting’ and blogging about its military operations and Hamas has responded with its own tweets. On Wednesday, Israeli’s posted video footage of the air strike that killed Ahmed al-Jabari. Rather than hosting a press conference following this event, Israel formally announced the launch of Gaza operation on Twitter. Instead of distributing leaflets warning Palestinian civilians to stay away from areas where militants are firing, the military issued its warning via twitter, stating “We recommend no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead." Just as our readings for this week discussed, the world of social media is changing operations in the Middle East. The presence of social media is not only effecting revolutions, it is also working its way into how the military operates.  

Structured Response

I think that while the revolts would have occurred with or without social media outlets, the existence of these outlets shaped the Arab revolts of 2011 and made them more successful. I think Khondker’s idea of “cyber-civil society” is one of the best examples of how social media influenced the revolts. Since creating strong civil society groups is one of the main factors we’ve explored in creating a successful revolution, it is important to note that social media cites make organization and the spread of information much easier and more widely accessible. It has the ability to take unstructured grassroots organizations and give them a means of operation. They can explicitly state their goal and spread their message to a wider range of people, which, in the end, is the main goal of any organization: to reach and gain the support of as many people as possible.  Just the ability to spread information quickly and to many people has changed the way revolts occur. The images of Khaled Said being beaten to death in Egypt sparked angry and shock which resulted in more organization. Events that spark widespread shock or anger can now be used to organize a more structured uprising. The want and need for revolution is present, but the use of Facebook and Twitter to further these goals makes the revolts much more powerful and successful. 

Reflection # 9

There has been news recently that a leader for the Syrian Rebel Coalition has been chosen named Moaz Khatib. The new leader seemed to be a "flowery type" (according to various news sites)- sharing visions of peace and love, and one who believes strongly in his faith while not condemning other sects or religions. Hopefully this leader will turn the coalition into one that can eventually be aided more by the international community- states around the globe supporting the ousting of Assad have been wary to give the rebels any arms because they are worried they may end up in the wrong hands. Khatib gives me some hope that Syria can have a stable non-sectarian government after the fall of Assad. The fact that Khatib, who was protesting for a peaceful Democracy even before the Arab Spring, has been elected as the leader may be a good omen.
I am wondering though, knowing that the coalition is already starting to get much international support (namely by Hollande in France and by Obama's Administration) and Domestic support (now even by many of Assad's own sect, the Alawites), possibly they can overthrow Assad without the force of military, but by the force of legitimacy?
Maybe there is not even a need for the ousting or death of President Assad, once there is a well established transitional government. If the coalition becomes or even looks powerful enough (due to the bolstering of their image by the global state society or domestic civil society), that may be a tempting reason for Assad to go in exile to a friendly country like Iran or Russia. Yes, Assad has already lost plenty of legitimacy for causing the death of around 40,000 Syrians, but the rebel coalition also does not have much legitimacy still due to a lack of organization and possible radical Islamic fundamentalists within their military ranks. This battle, as of now, is indeed a battle over the image of strength- if the Rebels appear to have gotten their mess of an anti-government force cleaned up, much of the international community may send military aid to them in bundles. However, as long as the rebels look flimsy and divided, Russia and Iran will continue to arm Assad, giving them somewhat of an upper hand.

Structured Response- Jared

Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, or "new media", as Habibul Haque Khondker calls it,  played a crucial role in the Arab Spring- they allowed for a quick spread of word about uprisings against Sultan authoritarians like Hosni Mubarak and Ben Ali.  As more and more people started to log on to social networks, the faster the idea of revolution jumped from country to country. A large factor in this spread of ideas was that "the images of Bouazizi", the man who lit himself on fire to protest the government,  "were put on Facebook and everyone saw it" (Khondker). In response to these outrageous photos, as Khondker stated, there were about "2 million users of Facebook" were logged on before the revolution in Tunisia. Furthermore, new media in Egypt was used to the advantage of citizens, who "[told] stories of police brutality, violence, and blatant injustice" (Khondker).

However, I do not believe that new media was necessary in starting the revolution. Rather I have concluded that the internet and other new forms of communication were helpful tools in speeding up the revolution process. In the Serbian revolutions against Slobodan Milosevic, "Otpor!" protestors against the government did not have the same access to new media as the Arab Springers did. Yet, Serbian citizens still managed to bring down their dictator and succeed in a change of government. Instead of using the internet or cell phones, Otpor relied on traditional protests, satirization of the government, dress, mobilization of both dissatisfied rural and city Serbian folk, the handing out of flyers, peaceful protest (until they burned a few government buildings down), and attempts at convincing the military to back down. Egypt and Tunisia, if new media were not present, would have still had the revolutions, but they would have been slower and possibly more violent. A key perk of new media was rapid global intelligence on the revolutions; the international community seemed to know right away about the massive protests, allowing for eventual global support of the revolutionaries. If relying on old media (newspapers, cable television, radio etc.), the news of revolution would have travelled to the global stage more gradually, allowing for possible violence by the Tunisian/Egyptian militaries without immediate condemnation by the international community. 

 

Structured Response #9- Hanna

Before Twitter had really taken off, the media and television shows kept mentioning it. They would refer to Twitter as if it was something that everyone was already on, which then forced us to ask our self ,"Are we out of the loop?"
I've always wondered why our media forced Twitter on us in this way.

This raises the question for me as to which is right: Did Social Media make a big of an impact on the Arab Spring? or Do we give Social Media sites too much credit?

I'll be the first person to say that I love Social Media. I believe very strongly that Social Media is a powerful globalizing force. It brings people across the world together and connects people in urban areas that would not meet otherwise. It connects us with professionals and amateurs seeking guidance. It does plenty of good in our modern world.

However, I do believe that it has been given far too much credit for the Arab Revolts. The temperature was right for revolution and it would have occurred with or without Social Media. Social Media was simply one of many mobilizing forces. It helped to organize meet up point and to publicize the revolution, but further than that it did not do more than sparking an interest among the population that it was concerned with.

Structured Response 6

            Social media is an increasingly popular way of spreading news. In the 2011 revolts, social media was used as a medium of spreading images, slogans, and events that had to do with the revolution. People were weakly tied to each other through social media because they all believed in a bigger purpose – democracy.

            However, people who call the Arab revolts of 2011 the “Twitter Revolution” seem to not have a grasp of the larger scale of the revolution. Rather, I believe that social media such as Facebook and Twitter were mediums that allowed social movements to take place, but were not the reasons themselves for the social movements. Though peoples weak ties to each other over social media sources certainly sped up the revolution process, these people were not the reason that revolution began in the first place. I think that the catalyst for revolutions, even in the Arab revolts, began with grass roots non-governmental organizations that worked towards the goal of democratization for years before the revolts actually occurred.

            Furthermore, I think that social media was not a factor necessary for revolution. Rather, I think that it helped to speed up the process of the revolts because of its widespread accessibility and its ability to spread news on a minute-to-minute basis. In this way, governments were unable to react as strongly or effectively as they could have because they were essentially taken by surprise. If social media had not been utilized as a method of spreading the word regarding specific protests, these protests would have taken more time to develop and may have been squashed by the governments. Even so, I still maintain that these revolts would have happened with or without social media, even if they had occurred more gradually if social media had not been a medium for communication among citizens. 

Reflection #9- Hanna

In my world politics class, many of the articles that we are reading are mentioning the belief that empowering women is the key to development. I agree with this. As a woman, I can say that there is an understanding that women are the key to furthering this world. It is something that I think that everyone knows without having to read any world politics article.
From here I wanted to shift to the western misunderstanding that the Chadri prohibits women empowerment. This is false.
The Chadri only has as much power as it is given.
Of course, if a woman is forced to wear this and does not want to then this is prohibiting her quest to further the woman's position in life. What about those who choose to wear the Chadri? A woman who wears the Chadri by choice among the western culture told me that she sees the Chadri as a blessing. She says, "Covered Body, Open Mind." For her, the Chadri is a source of empowerment. She does not have to abide by the constant female scrutiny that comes between women and their drive for just equality. For her, it helps her to see her true potential as a mind.
The same way the Chadri is used, clothing is used everywhere.
 Short skits and Low cut shirts are another example of clothing that prohibits female empowerment. Once again, it only has the power that we give it. It is just as likely that a woman will say that she wears short skirts because she likes to feel the breeze! By changing the way that women in the world dress, we will NOT change our positions in society. The sooner that we get off of the idea that the Chadri, Burqa, and all other head coverings are holding back MENA and Islamic women, then the sooner we will be able to address the real needs and concerns of these women.
Asking them where they want to see change is the only real source of female empowerment in the region and the best source of development for the world.

Reflection 9

It is a little early to do a reflection for the week but I went to a really interesting event yesterday and wanted to write about it while it was still fresh in my mind. Presented by the foreign service sorority at AU, prince Turki Al Faisal spoke to a bunch of students and professors in the SIS Founders Room. The prince was formerly the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S. and spoke about Saudi Arabia’s development and successes, as it becomes what he deemed a more modern nation. I found it interesting that he focused a lot on the improving education system in Saudi Arabia, because the education system is something we have talked a lot about in our country briefs on the nation. He also stressed the importance of vocational training and expressed a desire for youth the look for jobs not only in the government but also in the private sector. The prince said that though Saudi Arabia is not a completely modern state, it is well on its way to becoming one. He acknowledged the problem of unemployment and Internet connectivity in the nation, but seemed to dismiss the problems as of lesser importance than they are in reality.

He also completely ignored the problems of human rights violations and women’s rights in the country until the audience was allowed to ask questions, and a student asked about the very low ranking that Saudi Arabia has when it comes to women’s rights and their employment. The prince countered this question but arguing that Saudi Arabia is greatly improving the chances for women to become educated and employed, stating that the employment rate for women in the country has risen from around 5% ten years ago to around 15% now. Though this is a large improvement, the rate is still disturbingly low. Faisal also said that Saudi Arabian women should seek employment because a woman in the work force is desirable by suitors – a statement that enraged many women in the room, including the friend I attended the event with who is from Saudi Arabia and studying here at American. My friend told me after the event that the prince’s words were completely untrue and that many men in the country seek wives who are unemployed and uneducated because they are easier to control.

Overall, the event was super interesting and listening to the prince speak was a lot more worthwhile because of the prior knowledge I have about Saudi Arabia as a result of working on the country briefs this semester. It was really fascinating to talk to my friend after the event about how she felt about some of the more controversial things Faisal had said. Though he provided some interesting information, the event was also a great display of government censorship and sugarcoating. 

Reflection #8

It's now been two days after the presidential election. It was a depressing night at American for those few Conservatives, but we have quite an election to look forward to in 2016. Honestly, I am much less angry about the President Obama being re-elected than I am about my senatorial candidate losing. I worked for 3 months on his campaign, travelled across Ohio seven times over, made around literally 6,000 phone calls, handed flyers out, prepared campaign videos, and all this with no profit.

Anyway, that is the extent of complaining i'll do. After all, Obama is our president and he deserves my respect as my leader. I am just going to go over some of the positives of the president's foreign policy. After all, it is always good to look from the opposite perspective. But more so, I just don't want to completely be a sore loser.

I think that the President has done a wonderful job within the realm of asymmetric warfare. Everyone knows about the Bin Laden raid. However there have been many more missions like it- often overlooked, the Taliban has been drastically weakening in Pakistan and Yemen due to American drone strikes. Furthermore, regarding the Libyan Revolution, I first criticized the intervention by NATO and our country's participation, but I believe that everything turning out surprisingly well. There were many news stories a month after the ousting of Gaddafi saying that Libyan approval rating of the U.S. rose significantly. I speculated that by Obama not "forcing" the revolution and/or overthrowing of a foreign leader, the Libyan people supported America more. Obama merely aided the revolution; he lent the Libyans a hand.

Reflection - Anjali

This week, I've been thinking a lot about how the elections would have impacted US's relations with the Middle East area. I personally think that not much would have changed regardless of whether Obama or Romney was in office in a few ways, but at the same time, I think that if Romney had been elected president our relationships with the Middle East most likely would have faltered. He is very much of the mindset that America has the responsibility to lead and intervene in countries that are not up to it's standards of democracy, and I do not necessarily think that this mindset would benefit our relationships with countries in the Middle East at all; I think that these countries need their own time with their own people to formulate what they think are the best ways to govern their country. There is a certain balance necessary between sovereignty and intervention, and I do not think that America's current intervention policies allow for state sovereignty, let alone Romney's policies.

Reflection 8

I hope everyone enjoyed his or her election night in DC! I was at the White House from around 11 to 1 and it was one of the most incredible/emotional experiences of my life. Being there pretty early, my friends and I got pretty crushed by the crowd as more and more people arrived after the results were announced. Chanting “4 more years” and “2 terms” with so many other enthusiastic young people was exciting. I felt extremely connected to all of the strangers around me, especially when everyone started singing the national anthem together.

My experience at the White House last night and early yesterday morning was my first time being in such a large crowd for such an emotional and exciting event. After being there, I understand better how protests and rallies during social movements, including those in the MENA region, are so powerful. The group mentality that is created is undeniable. Hopefully it makes sense when I say there was a sense of invincibility within the crowd. I hadn’t understood before why people would actually enjoy being so squished into a crowd with random strangers, and I still can’t really explain why it was so great. But for some reason, having that connection with so many people was thrilling and exhilarating. Though I was in the group for a different purpose compared with social movement protests in the MENA region, I can more easily understand why protests of that nature are successful and draw in so many people. 

Reflection #8- Hanna

I just waited in line for 2 hours to cast my ballot! Wow. This is my first time voting, so I don't know the elections for being anything else but this. What I gathered from all of the old people in their Sunday's best and the young Lawyers, impatient and late for work, was that this had not been the case 4 years ago. In the last election, there had not been this kind of excitement and participation in the election. It would take voters around 15 minutes to complete the voting process. It would seem that last election would have been much more hectic with the vivacious Obama support that was going on at that time. This election, he still has the same supporters here--but they aren't going as wild as before...so why are more of them turning up to vote this year? Maybe it is because this is a closer year. Either way, this is a good sign for the future of American Politics. Even early voting had lines. More people are getting out and voting, whether by absentee ballot or early voting. A larger participation from the public will lead to greater interest in government visibility.

On a separate note, Shit is going down in Mali...which borders Algeria...this has been going on for a bit so I don't know why i didn't know this..here is to me constantly feeling (and being) uninformed.
so here is an article that you will find interesting and hopefully my group will have some more interesting stuff to share with you next brief!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/world/africa/us-tries-to-coordinate-anti-militant-push-in-mali.html

Reflection #8

I'd feel weird reflecting on anything else today, so I'll talk about how exciting it is to live in Washington, DC on election day. Sitting at my desk right now, I can see the Washington Monument and the heart of DC from my window, and it's strange to think that in a few hours our country may or may not go through a dramatic shift in power. What I love about this country is that however divided we are on the candidates, whoever the majority elects is unquestionably elected into power. The is no question after those ballots are counted of who runs our government. Elections are an exciting experience in this country, and although the campaigns may leave a sense of division throughout the American people, when all is said and done, we respect our right to vote so whole-heartily that when a winner is determined, that person is accepted. I feel like this feeling brings us together, regardless of our political affiliation, but it may also be something we take for granted. In so many regions around the world, especially the MENA region, elections are much different. Where we have a sense of excitement, they feel a sense of fear or unrest. In places like Syria and Egypt, the people fight so hard for free elections, but once these elections are provided their work is still unfinished. It will take years and generations to achieve the kind of democracy the American people experience, without fail, every four years. It is something that really allows us to take pride in our country, even if we don't agree with who's running it. So even though tomorrow may bring huge change for our country, that monument will still be outside my window and the basis for our government will remain unchanged.

Reflection #7

I read professor Hardig's post on Orientalism which made me really look back on my own thoughts on the Middle East and try to see where I may have strayed back to that facade of a mindset. Recently I have been trying to divert my thought process recently from the orientalist train of thought and see the MENA region differently than the typical Westerner. I must say, the transition is extremely difficult when generalizations against Middle Eastern communities are rampant on news stations, the internet, even everyday conversation. But when I talk about civil society in the MENA I have been taking time to deeply think about what I say first to make sure the conversation does not loop around back to even more generalizations. Aside from me trying to swap minds when thinking about the MENA, it has been a real eye opener recently to see how many different organizations there are in the Middle East fighting oppressive governments for ideas like human rights that many Americans now take for granted much of the time. CSO's in the MENA have truly gained my respect in this regard, and so far this seminar course has helped me make many connections between our American civil society and the Middle Eastern civil societies, showing me that we are not much different as two separate peoples.