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{ Monthly Archives } February 2008

Egypt Appoints Woman to Conduct Marriages

A first in Egypt!
Story from the BBC 

2008 02 29 Ted Thornton Egypt
Women Comments (0)

Rising Tensions Between Israel and Gaza

The situation is deteriorating. 
See the story from the BBC
See also BBC analysis (Feb. 28th)
Go to resources on the conflict at IME course

2008 02 29 Ted Thornton Arab-Israeli Conflict Comments (0)

Threat of Renewed Civil War Looming in Sudan

Nicholas Kristof, writing from Juba, a major center in southern Sudan, notes in his Op-Ed piece in today’s New York Times (”A Genocide Foretold,”Feb. 28, 2008) that Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is backing away from commitments his government made in the 2005 agreement between the north and south that ended the civil war.  Under the [...]

2008 02 28 Ted Thornton Arab World
Sudan Comments (1)

Fears in Egypt Over Rising Prices

Violence has erupted at some Egyptian bakeries as prices on unsubsidized bread rise and supplies of cheaper, subsidized bread decrease.
Article from BBC   See also See also

2008 02 28 Ted Thornton Arab World
Economic Issues
Egypt Comments (2)

New Poll: Most Muslims Want Democracy

A recent Gallup poll, reportedly the largest taken to date, indicates that most of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims aspire to democratic self-determination, but do not want it imposed from outside. 
Go to article at the BBC

2008 02 27 Ted Thornton Islam and Politics
Trends Comments (0)

For the Middle East, Boom Times for Oil Prices Bring Inflation and Economic Distress for Many

Fuel costs, driven by the boom in oil prices,  have risen in some parts of the Middle East by over 70% almost overnight, causing sharp jumps in prices where local currencies are pegged to the weakening dollar.  Middle class families are among those feeling the pinch.  Inflation in Saudi Arabia - running at zero percent [...]

2008 02 25 Ted Thornton Economic Issues
Middle East
Natural Resources
Oil Comments (1)

Michael Walzer on Torture, Terror, and When it is Justifiable to Invade

The March 6, 2008 issue of the New York Review of Books contains a review of the thinking of contemporary political philosopher Michael Walzer on such topics as torture (sometimes justified, as in the “ticking bomb” case), terror (he condemns it as a rule, but, admits that states have made exceptions in order to save [...]

2008 02 24 Ted Thornton Iraq
Islam and Politics
Terrorism Comments (0)

Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA)

The Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) is a superb online journal edited by Professor Barry Rubin.  In the most recent issue you’ll find an article by Jonathan Spyer on how the recent (2006) war in Lebanon failed to resolve that country’s political problems. 
More on Lebanon’s current political crisis

2008 02 23 Ted Thornton Lebanon
Research and Study Comments (0)

Two-State Solution May Be in Trouble

Echoing our discussion in class yesterday, an article that same day in the New York Times (Michael Slackman and Mona El-Naggar, “Arab Leaders Say the Two-State Proposal is in Peril,” Feb. 22, 2008) reported that Arab leaders are losing faith in the possibility of a Palestinian state living alongside of and coexisting with Israel.  In place [...]

2008 02 23 Ted Thornton Arab-Israeli Conflict
Trends Comments (1)

American Muslim Students Weigh Moral and Social Issues

In Muslim Student Associations on campuses across America, Muslim college students are finding themselves weighing (and in some cases making compromises regarding) such moral and social issues as whether male and female Muslim students should mingle. 
Go to article

2008 02 22 Ted Thornton Islam
Islam and the West
Women Comments (0)