Just as I randomly become inspired every year to trim my hair from a few inches to a buzz cut, I have decided to completely revamp the style and format of my blog to make it more aesthetically appealing, quicker loading and more functional all around.
I apologize for the mess of the revamping process.
In my limited spare time, I'm trying to stay as updated as possible on world news, literature, politics and so forth. I thought that I would start trying to offer weekly "must reads" to those of you who actually read my blog.
Chances are, the news will inevitably skew toward Middle Eastern politics, so if you are bored or disillusioned by that region, I apologize.
IRAN
Of course, Iran and the protests remains the hot topic of the last few weeks. I've read endless articles and opinions up to this point; however, only a few of the works are informative and worth reading.
1. A report by the Chatham House and the Institute of Iranian Studies entitled "Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran's 2009 Presidential Election." Definitely worth a read over.
2. Always good for his extensive insight and years of experience in the region, I recommend anything by Robert Fisk. Here is one of his recent articles reexamining the religious foundation of the revolution and its current leaders.
3. A very insightful piece from the Huffington Post looking at the political reasons for continuing to improve the US-Iran relationship. Link is here.
4. Finally, a fantastic literary essay by David Bromwich on Iran. My favorite quote pulled from a Haaretz article:
Suddenly, there appears to be an Iranian people. Not just nuclear technology, extremist ayatollahs, the Holocaust-denying Ahmadinejad, and an axis of evil. All of a sudden, the ears need to be conditioned to hear other names: "'Mousawi' or 'Mousavi,' how is it pronounced exactly?"; Mehdi Karroubi; Khamenei ("It's not 'Khomeini'?"). . . .Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators did not pour into the streets due to American intervention or threats from Israel. They want a better Iran for themselves, not for Obama or Benjamin Netanyahu. They will be the ones to determine what qualifies as a better Iran.MIDDLE EASTThis is the crux of the confusion that we have stumbled upon. The grand enemy that was neatly packaged into a nuclear, Shi'ite-religious container has come apart at the seams. On the one hand, it threatens, while on the other hand it demonstrates for democracy. On one street, it raises a fist against America, and in another alley, streams of protesters march for human rights. For goodness' sake, who is left to bomb?
Other events in the Middle East have been overshadowed by events in Iran. Nonetheless, it has been fairly uneventful. Former President Carter is negotiating the release of Shalit in the Gaza Strip, and there is talk of greater US involvement in bringing about the return of the Golan Heights to Syria.
1. Completely ignored (according to my watch) in the Western media, Hamas for the first time subtly endorsed the two-state solution based off of the pre-1967 borders. Certainly discourse is often different than action and belief, but it is a fairly interesting development to say the least.
2. Started reading an interesting book entitled, "Kill Khalid: The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas" by Paul McGeough. I am only 100 pages into the book; however, the writing is fantastic and well-researched, and it addresses an assassination plot which I knew nothing about previously.
Michael Jackson
1. Just kidding, based on the 24/7 coverage of Michael Jackson's death, there is no reason for me to link to any articles about the King of Pop.
I apologize to all my avid followers (sorry Uncle Bruce) for not updating my blog for the last month while I have settled into Egypt. To make up for lost time, here is a quick recap of recent events:
1. Obama spoke at Cairo University in Cairo. The reception by Egyptians was unbelievably friendly and gracious. In all truth, Egyptians are just so glad to have Bush out of office, that any alternative looks like a God-send.
2. Found an apartment in downtown Cairo in the Saad Zaghlol area. His masoleum is just down the street and is built in a Pharoanic style. Zaghlol was one of Egypt's true nationalists mobilizing support for independence from British occupation and colonialism.
3. Russian PM Putin was here two days ago. I live only two blocks from both houses of the Egyptian Parliament. On Tuesday morning when I was walking to campus, I must of passed 300 security officers and multiple plainclothes mukhabarat preparing for Putin's motorcade.
4. Egypt is bloody hot. Fortunately, the weather will be dropping ten degrees in the next two days... down to 95 degrees.
5. Arabic classes are going well. We have five hours a day of class and then five hours of homework, so life is rather intense.
6. I also picked up a temporary editing job on the side affiliated with al-Masry al-Yom, an Egyptian newspaper.
7. The US beat Egypt in an important match for the Federation Cup. Egyptians were pretty bummed.
8. Egyptians have been surprisingly silent on the current events in Iran. I can't tell if that is because they fear a foreign power (US) taking advantage of the protests for regime change, or if it because they don't support the protesters.
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