Digest of Middle East Studies最新文献

This policy paper uses the Eightfold Path method developed by Bardach and Patashnik to study the problem that is the lack of Maghrebian trans-boundary cooperation on the environment. It argues that political conflict has been allowed to obstruct a field that should remain nonpolitical. The paper concludes with policy recommendations intended to generate debate among decision makers and lead to more effective water management policies.

In the last decades, contemporary urbanism in the global South has meant large urban transformations, tall architecture landmarks, and fierce city competition. However, cities and their planners are now confronting an ethical dilemma: how to grow and compete while caring for the disastrous impacts on Earth and human health caused by the mass extraction, processing, and consumption of resources linked to urbanization. In our article, we problematize the modern interpretation of technology, and in particular architecture and planning technologies, in society where sustainability is considered a product. By restudying the Quranic notion of the khalifa and the accidental, ecological formation of the oasis, we will argue for a postpromethean philosophy of inhabiting the Earth. We will exemplify this new ethical–technological shift by comparing planned and unplanned developments in Arabian Gulf cities.

The Egyptian state's publication of its first National Human Rights Strategy 2021–2026 (NHRS) (2021) on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks came at the crossroads of Western pressure to improve human rights and the state's use of counterterrorism to silence voices. The recent arrests of Coptic activists, dubbing them “terrorists” on the pretext of disturbing public peace and instigating sectarianism, follows the regime's capitalization on Egypt's history of battling Islamic radicalism and sectarian strife. The regime has additionally used societal instabilities post the 2011 revolution to demonstrate Egypt's unique case of human rights. This paper analyzes the ways in which the language of the NHRS entangles terrorism to negotiate the interpretation of civil rights and social justice. In doing so, the thesis of NHRS posits civil rights and social justice to be the responsibility of the collective in general, and religious institutions in particular, as preservers of public peace and national unity. While the publication of the NHRS is inscribed in the feigning of democratization to Western donors, assigning Coptic activists as terrorists, as this paper argues, plays up religious differences, broadens the purview of counterterrorism, and expands state power.

In recent years Lebanon has been facing economic challenges. Various Lebanese satire shows deal with the difficult economic situation in Lebanon, displaying the high cost of living, corruption, and poor infrastructure. It seems that these shows are faithfully airing public grievances, but is this the case? Are satire shows looking for the common Lebanese denominator while dealing with economic issues or highlighting the different and divisive issues? Does each TV station follow its sectarian affiliation regarding the economic situation? Or do they present socioeconomic issues neutrally? The article uses Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky's propaganda model to answer these questions. By examining six satire shows from five TV stations broadcast mainly between 2011 and 2016, the article will try to determine whether satire shows fit the propaganda model by shaping their messages or airing their sketches unfiltered.

This issue of the Digest of Middle East Studies presents five articles encompassing a wide and engaging range of subjects: human rights, sustainable development, political satire, post-9/11 literature, and resistance movements. Each is a careful study of its subject matter, drawing the reader in for a close examination of a particular topic. Then, standing back, upon reflection it becomes apparent that these articles, in their diversity, contribute to the same larger question that motivates much of social science: how do we understand the social phenomena that operate within structures of power? How do people respond—through street protests, satirical commentary, novels—to the conditions created by state policies? How do actors of different types pursue the power to make or change those policies, on environmental issues, human rights, and political freedoms? Each author in this issue studies these larger questions from a different perspective, and we think you will find their accounts and analyses deeply interesting.

Nevine Abraham's article, “Mobilizing Religious Differences and Terrorism: Negotiating civil rights in Egypt,” offers a contribution to the understanding of the nexus between state policies on counterterrorism and human rights. In the Egyptian case, Abraham argues, the National Human Rights Strategy for the 2021–2026 period speaks of pluralism and diversity to an external audience, while framing human rights as necessarily constrained by the exigencies of domestic counterterrorism priorities. More particularly, Abraham investigates the expansion of “terrorism” designations as a tool to silence Coptic activists specifically, allowing the regime to expand its power and negotiate political cooperation with religious leaders in exchange for human rights.

In a particularly timely piece, Agostino Rizzo and Attilio Petruccioli consider the apparently-competing demands of urban development and environmental sustainability in his article on contemporary urbanism in the global South, “Khalifa versus Prometheus: Green ethics and the struggle for contemporary sustainable urbanism.” Focusing on the Arabian Gulf environment, Rizzo and Petruccioli argue for a new perspective on development drawn from the concept of khalifa as a basis for a new ethic of technology and its proper uses in human society.

In “The Representation of the Economic Situation in Lebanese Satires: Unfiltered or propaganda in practice?” Dan Naor, Avner Asher, and Yossi Mann take on the engaging topic of satirical Lebanese television programs. These programs are a popular vehicle for the discussion of current events and the state of political and economic affairs, but do they merely reflect public sentiment or seek to shape it along sectarian or other lines? Using an analysis drawn from Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model, the authors investigate whether the economy, as a subject affecting the whole country, is treated in satirical programmin

Along with fundamental rights such as liberty and property, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789 also envisions a right to resist oppression. Irrespective of one's place on the political spectrum, resistance has been employed as an alternative both to submission and to revolt. After briefly sketching a historical and theoretical account of resistance I propose two parallel sets of criteria to further characterize good resistance. I submit that the first set is normative (I call it emancipatory) and the second set is critical (meaning it can be empirically assessed). I further break this typology down as follows: (1) Resistance is emancipatory when it is (a) nonviolent, (b) progressive, and (c) civil; and (2) it is critical when it seeks to (a) change policies and practices that are unjust, and (b) empower citizens to enjoy their full rights. I show the usefulness of this scheme by applying it to the political situation in Iran and by evincing these criteria in three instances of resistance there. Thus, in this context, I argue, resistance is a preferable alternative to both revolution and reform.

This essay on the Ground Zero novel offers three perspectives on one of the most exciting current debates in humanities by approaching the effects of the most notable 21st century event on the American novel. It presents a scholarly analysis of the American novel of the past 20 years and provides a discussion for readers who are divided by geography, ideology, and religion to understand how the 9/11 novel reflects both geopolitical relations and conflicts of our collective present. It sets two necessary provisos for the analysis of post-9/11 American narrative: terrorism and counter-terrorism. This analysis approaches the post-9/11 novel from two opposing perspectives/voices—neutral narratives and political narratives—to provide a neutral cultural territory divorced from geopolitical strategy to understand this new version of American literature and explore the common beliefs and values in it. A third focus, on the literature of immigrants, is emerging in American literary studies and offers a bridge to those interested in exploring the cultural contributions of Muslim immigrants to American culture. It would be a mistake to conclude without referring to the contributions of Arab American writers because the concepts of culture and coexistence are interlinked.

The article discusses the question of why and how the normalization between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel took place and managed to evolve into a peace agreement. It offers an additional explanation to the neorealists' scholarly and commonly accepted argument: that it was only the behavior of the revisionist state of Iran that was the motive for signing the peace agreement between the two states. Furthermore, the article argues that the normalization of relations began in 2004 and could have materialized owing to the UAE's neoliberal foreign policy of focusing on soft power cooperation. It suggests the UAE's internal interests of status, stability, and empowerment, which were incorporated in the Vision 2021 plan, were translated into a foreign policy of international cooperation rather than one of military involvement and alliances. The UAE's long-term strategy reveals a dual neorealist and neoliberal foreign policy with a tendency toward the latter. The neoliberal foreign policy of soft power cooperation attracted the UAE to Israel and, through these shared interests, built trust and eventually led to normalization between the two states. The study covers three periods of the UAE's foreign policy strategy during the development of the normalization process. It begins with the tension between the neoliberal and neorealist strategies from 2004 to 2009, then looks at the increase in tensions between 2010 and 2018, and ends with the focus on the neoliberal foreign policy strategy in 2019–2020.

Qatar, a small Gulf Arab nation with a de facto absolute monarchy, held its first general elections ever for 30 Shura Council seats on October 2, 2021. This marked the first time in Qatar's history that citizens played a more direct role in government, moving beyond symbolic elections. This study aimed to examine the factors likely to have influenced voters' selection of candidates, the key issues that are significant to Qatari citizens, and the possible characteristics of candidates that are deemed essential. While informal conversations are the main method of data collection for this study, social identity theory, specifically group-based models, was used to understand the influences that shape Qatari voters' choices of candidates. Findings indicate that tribe-related and family-connected attributes constitute important influences on voters' choice decisions. Moreover, voters were concerned about candidates' characteristics and the issues and policies candidates deemed important. Discussion and recommendations are provided.

Qatar, una pequeña nación árabe del Golfo con una monarquía absoluta de facto, celebró sus primeras elecciones generales para 30 escaños del Consejo Shura el 2 de octubre de 2021. Esta fue la primera vez en la historia de Qatar que los ciudadanos desempeñaron un papel más directo en el gobierno, moviendo más allá de las elecciones simbólicas. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo examinar los factores que probablemente influyeron en la selección de candidatos por parte de los votantes, los temas clave que son importantes para los ciudadanos de Qatar y las posibles características de los candidatos que se consideran esenciales. Si bien las conversaciones informales son el principal método de recopilación de datos para este estudio, la teoría de la identidad social, específicamente los modelos basados en grupos, se utilizó para comprender las influencias que dan forma a las elecciones de candidatos de los votantes qataríes. Los hallazgos indican que los atributos relacionados con la tribu y la familia constituyen influencias importantes en las decisiones de elección de los votantes. Además, los votantes estaban preocupados por las características de los candidatos y los temas y políticas que los candidatos consideraban importantes. Se proporcionan debates y recomendaciones.