Middle East Institute معهد الشرق الأوسط
Occasional PapersSelect Year:The United States and Political Islam: The Dialectic of Hegemony and ResistanceIn his speech to the Muslim world from Cairo on 4 June 2009, President Obama declared ‘We meet at a time of tension between the United States and the Muslims around the world – tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate.’ 1′ This statement while true is only partially so. There are obviously historical forces that affect many Muslims’ perception of the West and, therefore, of the United States and vice-versa. Some of them will be referred to later in the paper. But it is equally if not more true that the structures of power in the international system as well as specific American policies contribute normously to this tension. read more Refining the Saudi “Will to Power”Modern Saudi Arabia exists because the ruling Al Sa`ud family forged together enduring tribal alliances that withstood the test of time. 1 While ruling family politics in the Kingdom share many characteristics with other hereditary monarchies, Saudi Arabia stands alone in a number of aspects. First, the family’s sheer size and complexity, in terms of both its internal structure and composition as well as its connections to Saudi society, make the Saudi political system markedly different from other past and present monarchies. 2 In addition, family politics have developed in the context of vast wealth and profound transformations that have altered the face of Saudi Arabia, perhaps permanently. Thus, it is on such premises that family politics must be analysed with an emphasis on determining the interplay between politics and policy on the one hand, and the balance between cohesive and disintegrative forces within the family on the other. These implications for Saudi behavior have a direct bearing on Saudi power and succession. read more The GCC Economies and the Crash: Short-term Weaknesses, Long-term StrengthsAfter an initial phase in which analysts expected the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) fiscal cushions to ward off the global economic crisis, the world recession has started to reverberate in the Gulf. 1 The Gulf monarchies are in some ways better, but in other ways worse, equipped to ride out the storm. As many strategic assets remain in state hands, Gulf countries do not have to go through a painful period of nationalisation, but can react in a more immediate and nationally-coordinated fashion to market failures. The crisis has nonetheless highlighted key institutional weaknesses of the GCC countries. read more Islamisation Trends in the Middle East and BeyondIt gives me great pleasure to be a guest speaker in the Middle East Institute in Singapore. When I received the invitation through the good offices of H.E. Ambassador Nasser Hamdy, the Egyptian Ambassador to Singapore, I thought it was important to accept this kind invitation and to discuss with the distinguished members and guests of this prestigious think-tank an issue that has become a very serious preoccupation for some around the world and a threat that must be confronted at all costs, come what may. For the rest, it has become a phenomenon hard to understand and thus difficult to imagine how to cope with. Needless to say, the views that I am about to expound are entirely mine and they should not in any way engage the responsibility of the Government of Egypt. read more The Dynamics of Middle Eastern Political LanguageGeorge Orwell once described political language, especially in its service to tyrannical authority, as “designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” 1 To many observers, political language is either empty state rhetoric loaded with self-justification, or disorientating propaganda, and is a global, even athological characteristic. To others, political language has a causal role in the assertion of state power, where a state’s control of language may equate to a control of the population. 2 One book on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq argues that words divide everything into “black and white” and thus acts as a “smoke screen between the facts they purport to refer to and the impression they seek to create.” 3 This arguably is a widespread political phenomenon. read more Social Change in the United Arab Emirates: Challenges of Migration and “Emiratisation”The United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a population of 4.5 million is rather small compared to neighbouring Saudi Arabia with 27.6 million people, yet the UAE has been able to attract a great deal of international attention. The UAE is making news worldwide for her bold development initiatives and many other innovative policies. Dubai is fast becoming a global city with towering skyscrapers and awe-inspiring architecture. This paper examines social change in the UAE, particularly some of the challenges entailed by the development initiatives in the face of globalisation. read more |
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