Posted in Culture, Israel, Walter Reich on Aug 15th, 2008 Comments Off on The 2,000-year shakedown
From Walter Reich That Israel’s leadership can’t figure out what to do when faced with the challenge of ransoming kidnapped Jews is excusable. That much of that leadership seems to be ignorant of the fact that Jews have given two thousand years of thought to exactly that problem, however, isn’t. A few weeks ago, in […]
Posted in Culture, Egypt, Israel, Josef Joffe, Walter Reich on Aug 8th, 2008 1 Comment »
From Josef Joffe Of course, antisemitism cannot be amusing. How could it be? This darkest of creeds has spawned million-fold death, not to speak of its less murderous forms like discrimination, persecution and expulsion. But here is a rare instance that might bring at least a bittersweet smile to your face. Then, further below, we’ll […]
Posted in Culture, Lebanon, Philip Carl Salzman, Terrorism on May 11th, 2008 Comments Off on Clashes in Beirut
From Philip Carl Salzman After modest initiatives in recent days by the Lebanese government to restrict the independent operations of Hezbollah, fighters of Hezbollah and Amal flooded into the streets of west Beirut, attacked and dispersed government fighters, set up road blocks, and occupied government and media offices. The Druze and Christian militias did not […]
Posted in Academe, Culture, Philip Carl Salzman on Apr 21st, 2008 Comments Off on Uncle Sam wants you!
From Philip Carl Salzman “He must be a spy,” said the visiting Baluch, bearded, turbaned, and baggy in long shirt and trousers. My fellow camp mates of the Dadolzai shrugged. They had accepted me and were past wondering exactly how I got there. “Sure,” I replied; “the government”—whether Iranian or American was left unspecified, “they […]
Posted in Andrew Exum, Counterinsurgency, Culture, Intelligence, Military on Apr 17th, 2008 Comments Off on Gates calls for truce (with academia)
From Andrew Exum Be sure to read the speech given on Monday by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to the Association of American Universities in Washington. Since 9/11, the U.S. and its allies have been involved in two prolonged counter-insurgency campaigns in both Iraq and Afghanistan. These wars are low-tech conflicts in which anthropological skills […]
Posted in Culture, Iran, Media on Apr 13th, 2008 Comments Off on Mapping Iran’s blogosphere
From MESH Admin The Internet and Democracy Project at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School, has just published a new study, Mapping Iran’s Online Public: Politics and Culture in the Persian Blogosphere. The image below is the resulting map of the Iranian blogosphere (click on the image for a larger view). […]
Posted in Culture, Philip Carl Salzman on Apr 7th, 2008 Comments Off on No peace without victory
From Philip Carl Salzman “America’s current policies represent a fundamental departure from [America’s] centuries-old tradition,” concludes Michael B. Oren in a recent op-ed. In previous interventions in the Middle East, “American military action was seen as an ancillary to—rather than as a substitute for—diplomacy. And in no case did U.S. troops remain on Middle Eastern […]
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