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.

Structured Response #7

Civil society within both the United States and the MENA region can be surprisingly similar to the unsuspecting Westerner. All across Arab society one can see CSO’s that advocate Gay Rights, women’s rights, minority rights and various religious rights just like many Liberal and secular organizations in the US. On the other hand, there are MENA CSO’s, just like some religious and Conservative organizations in the US, that advocate a more regressive approach, for instance, to Islamize society. Just like Cavatorta and Elananza stated in their work "Political Opposition in Civil Society: An Analysis of the Interactions of Secular and Religious Associations in Algeria and Jordan", secular and religious CSO's will often conflict with each other in Arab society to push for their way of social "change" in their country. However, there is also some cooperation between religious groups and secular groups as well to push for change. For example, a loose coalition was formed between Djazairouna (run by a Secular woman) and Disparus (which is "'vaguely' Islamist") to discover what happened to people kidnapped by Islamist groups (Cavatorta 571). This scenario should ring a bell for the myriad people who pay attention to American civil society.

There have been many instances in American society where religious groups and secular groups join forces for a brief amount of time to fight for something. For example, in 2009, environmental organizations like the Sierra Club and religious groups like the Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light came together to "challenge Dominion Virginia Power’s plans to build a new coal-fired power plant in Virginia's Wise County"(source is here: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/news/2009/01/12/5470/faith-based-and-secular-groups-join-forces-to-fight-big-coal-in-virginia/). This is a usual example in America of how completely different civil society organizations can come out of the struggle "space" and fight a common enemy. Instead of an issue with kidnapping by Islamic groups (as what happened in MENA), however, these two US religious groups came together over a concern of environmental stability.


A show of unity between US religious organizations and secular groups, just like in Arab society, does not occur, though, with many social issues. In countries like Lebanon, there is tension between some secular pro-gay rights organizations and religious Islam organizations over the issue of gay marriage, just as there is tension over gay marriage between anti-gay rights Conservative Christian organizations and many Secular liberal organizations. This shows once again that the MENA region's civil society is not too different from America's civil society. 

Weekly Reflection

This reflection is going to be quite short - I haven't really thought too much about the Middle East this week except very briefly in passing just now when I was thinking about Hurricane Sandy. Sandy destroyed our little town in New Jersey, and while watching the news, I've realized how much effort people are making to come together and helping bring the East coast to recovery. It simply clicked with me HOW people are able to come together under different circumstances to work together to make a difference. The grassroots communities in the Middle East are able to come together because they unite so universally against many government concepts. Though I understood that this happened, it only just made sense how this could be feasible on a large scale.

Reflection #7

In this week's research, I found one article particularly interesting. Earlier this week, Bahrain government announced a new law that went into affect immediately. The law outlaws any sort of demonstrating or organization from protest groups. After the deaths of both protesters and police officers alike, the government claims that increasing violence is the reason for the crack-down. Since uprising began in 2011, Shia opposition to the Sunni held government has gotten increasingly violent. The country's dynamics make it impossible to ease any sort of tension within the country, yet violence is covered up in the media to enhance Bahrain's image in the west. The United States is such a strong ally of Bahrain, our Navy's fifth fleet is housed there, not to mention our oil interests in the Gulf. Because of this, the US pays to block negative media attention concerning the country. The new law makes it even more difficult to spread truthful media about the country. The Bahrain government has struggled to contain the protests, they imprison those who post on social media sites and even arrest doctors for treating wounded protesters. But this new law has only made the uprisings more violent. I find it very dis-concerning that the more I research this country, the less liberal and developed it seems. It shows that the surface information is indeed skewed.

Weekly Reflection October 31

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Professor Hardig’s post about orientalism was really eye opening for me and frustrating at the same time. I decided to take this class because I am interested in the Middle East and especially in human rights violations there. I’m trying so hard to get out of the orientalist mindset and better understand the MENA region, but with outside forces like the media, etc., it is still difficult for me. I find myself making generalizations in my reflections and structured responses, and even when I am doing research for my country briefs. But even though it still happens, I think I am getting better at recognizing when it happens and trying to stop it. Taking this class and being at AU in general has really helped because there are so many open-minded people here who are interested in the region also. It also really helps that one of my best friends here is from Saudi Arabia. As ridiculous as it sounds, being friends with her and talking to her about everyday things has helped to view people from the MENA as just other people. Though my friend is religious, she isn’t anything like the stereotypes I had in my head before I came here. I am hoping that I will become even more open-minded and informed during my time at AU – it has only been a few months (which is crazy because I feel like I’ve been here forever!). I hope that eventually I can break from the orientalist mindset AND help other people realize that that ideology is simply ridiculous and backward.