This Blog is intended for use by students in the Islamic Middle East course at Northfield Mount Hermon School and guest students and teachers from other participating schools.
In the seventh installment in their series “Generation Faithful,” the New York Times profiles life in fast paced Dubai, where an atmosphere of moderation and tolerance help Arab young people bridge the sometimes difficult tension between secular and religious ways of life. However, living in Dubai is still challenging for those foreign Arabs who are used [...]
There are fears in the United States of a new cold war with Russia in which the latter may try to disrupt American interests in the Middle East among other areas.
Go to story at the New York Times
Link to ResetDOC.org
In a review that captures well the current conflicts, political patterns, moods, and failures throughout much of the Middle East, Raymond Bonner looks at a new book by esteemed Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid.
Raymond Bonner, “War in Progress,” New York Times Book Review, August 10, 2008
The book: Ahmed Rashid. Descent Into Chaos: The United States and [...]
Rival interests in the Middle East have discovered fresh will and energy to talk about their problems with one another. Michael Slackman (”Talks Signal Mideast Shift,” New York Times, July 18, 2008, A1) writes that the new mood is forcing the United States, its European allies, and Israel to reassess their policies especially their reluctance to deal with their [...]
The New York Times’ Andrew Martin wrote recently on the impact of rising prices and global food shortages on the Middle East.
Andrew Martin, “Mideast Facing Choice Between Crops and Water,” New York Times, July 21, 2008
More on water shortages in the Middle East
Sunni extremists from North Africa, the Gulf, and Central Asia are answering the call to wage jihad against the Americans in the unstable border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Eric Schmitt, “Militant Gains in Pakistan Said to Draw More Fighters,” New York Times, June 10, 2008
Tensions between Iran and much of the rest of the global community continue to escalate following Iran’s testing of medium and long-range missiles.
Story at BBC
UPDATE - July 11, 2008: The following day (July 10, 2008), United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, echoing American statesmen like Jimmy Carter (1980) and James Baker (1990), said, “We [...]
Thomas Powers writes about the struggle between the executive branch and the Defense Department (and also the struggle inside the Defense Department) over whether the United States will go to war with Iran over the perceived threat from Iran’s nuclear development program.
Does President Bush have the capacity to carry out his threat to neutralize Iran before he [...]
Militant Islamists in Algeria, who prompted a bloody civil war there in the 1990s, have forged new ties with Al-Qaeda and are attempting to transform what had been a nationalist insurgency into part of the global jihad.
Souad Mekhennet, Michael Moss, Eric Schmitt, Elaine Sciolino and Margot Williams, “A Threat Renewed: A Ragtag Insurgency Gains a [...]
BBC Middle East