New Brookings report, Democracy Promotion Under Obama: Lessons from the Middle East Partnership Initiative.
PDF here.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
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Misconceptions, History, Culture, Language, Religion, Politics, and what we can and can't do as foreigners
Me in a nutshell.
Peace Corps Morocco, MA Middle East History UVA, Arabic enthusiast (not fluent...yet), lived in Syria over two summers, starting work at the at the American University of Iraq at Suleimaniya (AUIS) in September. I am generally obsessed with the Middle East and generally dissatisfied with US policies there (OK, to be fair, I am also dissatisfied with policies of ineffective regional leaders) and am in a constant search for possibilities for social, political, judicial & economic reform on local, state, regional and international levels. I also aim to encourage a better understanding of the region here in the States.
In Morocco for the summer
I am in Morocco for the summer as a group leader for one of the State Dept.'s Arabic immersion programs for high school students. Students are studying at the American Langauge Center (ALC) here in Marrakech. The ALC's main gig is teaching Moroccans English - 5,000 a semester - they have a really amazing program here. Life is general is great here because Morocco is my most favorite place around.
Mosaic
Watch news from the Middle East translated into English; new episode everyday; there is also a podcast.
Blogs on the Middle East
Websites, Orgs, Newspapers, Journals on the Middle East/ Foreign Policy in general
- Afghans for Civil Society
- Al Hayat
- Al Jazeera
- Al Jazeera (Arabic)
- Arab Reform Bulletin - Carnegie
- Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
- Aswat al Iraq
- Aswat al Iraq (Arabic)
- Atlantic
- Azzaman (Iraq)
- BBC
- BBC Arabic
- Bill Moyers (I love you)
- Carnegie - Arab Reform Bulletin
- Carnegie Endow. Internat'l Peace
- Center for a New American Security
- Center for American Progress
- Center for Public Integrity
- Council Foreign Realtions
- Crooks and Liars
- CS Monitor
- CSIS
- Daily Kos
- Daily Star (Lebanon)
- Democracy Digest
- Economist
- Fact Check
- Foundation for Middle East Peace (Isr/Palestine)
- Freedom House
- Frontline
- George Packer
- Haaretz (Israel)
- HRW - MENA
- Hullabaloo
- Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
- Iraq Blog Count
- It's Still Burning: Thoughts on the Middle East in the age of Obama
- Jerusalem Fund/ Palestine Center (DC)
- Juan Cole
- Just World News (Helena Cobban)
- Link TV - Television Without Borders
- McClatchy
- Middle East Institute
- Middle East Research & Information Project
- Nahrain (Iraq)
- Nation
- National
- National Democratic Institute
- NPR
- PBS
- Pew
- Politico
- Project on Middle East Democracy
- Radio Free Iraq
- Real Clear Politics
- Riverbend - Baghdad Burning
- US Institute of Peace
Books on the Middle East and Islam
- Descent into Chaos: The US and the Failure of Ntion BUlding in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, Ahmad Rashid
- Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, And the Wars Within, Shuja Nawaz
- Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians, Chris Hedges and Laila Al Arian
- Engaging the Muslim World, Juan Cole
- Ghost Wars, Steve Coll (My favotrie book)
- Islam, the West and Challenges of Modernity, Tariq Ramadan
- In the Footsteps of the Prophet, Tariq Ramadan
- Koran, Kalashnikov, and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan
- Leaderless Jihad, Terror Networks in the 21st C., Marc Sageman
- The Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats and the New Politics of the Middle East, Anthony Shadid
- Mission Accomplished: Or how we won the War in Iraq: The Experts Speak
- Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah, Olivier Roy
- The Failure of Political Islam, Olivier Roy
- Politics of Chaos in the Middle East, Olivier Roy
- The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, Thomas Ricks
- The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One, David Kilcullen
- The Bin Ladens An Arabian Family in the American Century, Steve Coll
- THE EXPERTS SPEAK: THE DEFINITIVE COMPENDIUM OF AUTHORITATIVE MISINFORMATION
- The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman
- The Israel Lobby, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid
- Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values, Philippe Sands
- Understanding Terror Networks, Marc Sageman
- What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, Louise Richardson
Films on the Middle East
- http://www.lemontreemovie.com/lemontree_en.html
- Sling Shot Hip Hop
- Heavy Metal in Baghdad
- Brothers at Arms(Doc on troops in Iraq)
- The Dictator Hunter (Bringing Hissene Hibre, former Chad pres, to justice)
- Route 181 (an Israeli and Palestinian drive the 1947 Partition line and interview people)
- Encounter Point (On Israeli and Palestinian peace activitsts)
- Ghosts of Abu Ghraib (On the abuses at Abu Ghraib)
- Taxi Cab to the Darkside, (On abuses at Bagram in Afghanistan, best doc 2008)
- Iraq in Fragments (Documentary on Iraq under occupation)
- My Country, My Country (Documentary on Iraq under occupation - amazing)
- Baghdad High(Recent documentary on four Iraqi boys)
Possibilities for Political Reform: Islamic Democrats and Others
Understanding Radicalization
- Islamist De-Radicalization in Algeria (ME Institute policy brief)
- Several books on understanding radicalization reviewed by Ahamd Rashid in NY Review Books
- What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat
- "Deprogamming Jihadists" (NYTimes article)
- Saudis Use Cash and Counseling to Fight Terrorism
- Knowing the Enemy: Can Social Scientists Redefine the War on Terror? (George Packer, New Yorker)
- Engineers of Jihad (U. of Oxford Sociology Dept.)
Local/ National Interests: DC stuff, public school reform, prison reform
Labels
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- Arab Reform
- Books
- Calling out
- Darfur
- DC issues
- DC restaurants
- Democracy in the Middle East
- Education Reform
- Egypt
- Foreign Policy
- Hamas
- Hezbullah
- History
- Insurgency
- Iran
- Iraq
- Islam
- Israel
- jihad
- Justice
- Kurds
- Morocco
- Murshida
- Muslim Brotherhood
- Newspaper articles
- Opposition
- Other stuff
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Pictures
- Politics
- Prison reform
- Radicalization
- Reform
- Saudi
- Sharia
- Somalia
- Steak
- Sunni Shii
- Syria
- Torture
- Tribes
- Turkey
- Uighurs
- Violence
- Women
- Women and Islam
Blog Archive
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2009
(310)
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May
(54)
- Busy and out of town: don't forget about me.
- Shwarma King, comedy, and a great Palestinian group
- Check me out.
- Another Asinine Article About Islam.
- Newsflash: The NYTimes sharing No. 1 spot on my s-...
- America Abroad is No.1 on my s--t list.
- I wish Cheney lived in Egypt.
- What Egyptians think about Obama coming.
- Awesome site. (And their post on American sensatio...
- Trash collection fights radicalism and builds civi...
- Dexter Filkins on possible peace in Afghanistan.
- "How Pakistan Failed Itself"
- Arab perceptions of Obama Netanyahu meeting.
- 2009 Arab Public opinion poll
- Pam Constable on Pakistan on McNeil Lehrer News Hour
- Obama Promoting the D in the Middle East
- van den Awesome.
- Weight of a Mustard Seed.
- Kuwaiti women in Parliament.
- New book on the invasion of Afghanistan.
- Pentagon propaganda cover up.
- New Yorker article on liberals and Islamists in Ma...
- Great argument against drones.
- Lead up to the Iraq war: Bible quotes and baby milk
- The COIN tunnel must be challenged.
- Model for Guantanamo detainees?
- Bill Moyers on Pakistan and Afghanistan
- More on how Bush admin tortured their way to Iraq.
- Kefaya and Muslim Brotherhood: Ditch the rejection...
- Great site on Arab media.
- Shifting loyalties in Iraq.
- Pakistani Poll
- Obama in Egypt.
- The reason we went to war in Iraq is dead; this ma...
- Arabic speaking gays in the military.
- Why is the pope trying to make me like him again?
- Malcom Gladwell on how to win wars...and basketbal...
- Great article on the realities economic developmen...
- An unconditional no for conditionality for US aid ...
- Obama to make speech in Egypt.
- More great input from Andrew Bacevich.
- Article on civilians fleeing Swat in Pakistan
- Listen to Warren Olney 'To the Point' tonight! (We...
- Refutation of Quranic sanction of Ploygamy (really...
- It's a bone picking week: Now Andrea has a bone to...
- I've got a bone to pick with you, Tavernese.
- Great arguments against torture.
- Yoo was Bush's genie, according to Condi Rice. (St...
- Who needs sides...
- Ini Mini Miny Mo...
- 3 new movies worth watching.
- This is the kind of stuff that starts 'religious' ...
- Excellent thoughts on HOW to approach the Middle E...
- OH the Hypocrisy.
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▼
May
(54)
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Ask me a Question
Do you have a question concerning the Middle East region or about this blog? E-mail me at vandentoorn@gmail.com and I will try to answer it.
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