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.