The Middle East articles from July 2008

The Middle East archives from July 2008

Comment.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RICHARD MOSTO WAS born in England in 1884 during the reign of Queen Victoria. He lived--as far as is known--an unremarkable life working as a postman, delivering letters and the occasional package in rural...

Lebanon at the crossroads: the Doha Accord halts political feuding, but it remains to be seen whether it's a new beginning or just the calm before the storm. Ed Blanche reports from Beirut.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE QATAR-BROKERED AGREEMENT of 21 May appeared to resolve Lebanon's 18-month-old political crisis, but the country remains in a precarious position as the Middle East lurches towards great change fuelled by...

May the best man win.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
July 1, 2008... IT IS NOW clear that either John McCain or Barack Obama will succeed George W Bush as President of the United States. What might the election of either man mean for the Middle East? Naturally, both candidates have one eye on the voters when...

Step out of the dark ages: the spread of the HIV/Aids virus is a tragedy not a stain on the honour of the world community. And until all nations--including those of the Middle East--stop apportioning blame and direct their attentions towards education and prevention programmes, the devastation will continue.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome)
July 1, 2008... THE HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC has officially been with us since 1981, when it was recognised by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The trickle of recorded cases in the previous decades turned into something more worrying and the World...

Anticipating a promising future: following the Paris conference on 12 June, which pledged $20bn for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, the country's minister of finance, Anwarulhaq Ahadi, spoke exclusively to The Middle East about how he anticipates the money will be spent and the differences it will make to long-suffering Afghan citizens.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(Paris, France)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANWARULHAO AHADI I used to enjoy reading The Middle East magazine when I was a professor in the US; the University library was a subscriber and I read it every month, cover to cover. It was one of the best...

The art of balance: Adel Darwish reports on how the narrative of reporting Israel has changed in the British media, making the job of Israel's new ambassador to London an unprecedented challenge.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
July 1, 2008... MIDDLE EASTERNERS, WHETHER Palestinians or Israelis, Jews or Muslims, or any of a dozen other identities of this complex mosaic, have a schizophrenic relationship with Britain. For the Arabs, Britain has frequently been an historic friend...

Temperature rises on a long summer of discontent.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SEASONED ANALYSTS ARE questioning the feasibility of a future for the Israeli government as its leader, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, faces his fifth round of corruption investigations in two years. Should Olmert...

The third way? Mel Frykberg reports from the Occupied Territories where she spoke to Dr Mustafa Barghouti, a politician who is drawing increasing levels of recognition and regard from jaded Palestinian voters, exclusively for The Middle East.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(Essay)
July 1, 2008... THE ISRAELIS HAVE long said that the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity and, it seems, ever growing numbers of disgruntled Palestinians are beginning to agree with them. Disillusioned with their dichotic...

Egypt negotiates troubled waters: Maria Golia reports from Cairo.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
July 1, 2008... WHEN WINTER COMES to the northern lands, people steel themselves for long months of darkness, damp and bitter cold. The challenges of conducting one's business in the midst of irritating drizzle or pelting rain include sickness, depression and...

Reform may be lagging behind but progress continues unhindered: a View from the Gulf by Mustapha Karkouti.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(Essay)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TRAVELLING IN GULF Cooperation Council (GCC) countries it is impossible not to be impressed by the sheer volume of progress and rapid changes taking place with varying degrees in a way that makes you wonder how, in...

Gulf food security: is there enough, and at what price?(BUSINESS & FINANCE)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DESPITE ESCALATING WEALTH, the Gulf states are facing a potential food crisis as world prices for everything from wheat and rice to fruit, vegetables, dairy goods and cooking oils rise dramatically. And while some...

Capture the solution: Abu Dhabi has taken the bold decision to build the world's first industrial scale hydrogen-powered generating plant using carbon capture processes.(BUSINESS & FINANCE)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LOCKING GREENHOUSE GASES safely away from the atmosphere in deep underground geological formations, known as carbon capture, is increasingly viewed as one of the few viable solutions to cutting man-made CO2...

An unhealthy interest? Some Islamic debt instruments have been falling foul of Muslim scholars--widening a new debate in finance known as Shari'ah risk.(BUSINESS & FINANCE)
July 1, 2008... CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING scenario: The international market for a class of new Islamic financial instruments, sukuk, is booming, having reached $100bn from scratch in just five years. Sukuk, akin to a conventional bond, are the star performer of...

Saudi real estate sector presents $multibillion investment opportunities.(BUSINESS & FINANCE)
July 1, 2008... THE SAUDI ARABIAN real estate and construction sector presents one of the most attractive investment opportunities in the region according to one of the kingdom's leading banking houses. With 70% of the population below the age of 30 and...

The oil price how long can it go on rising? In an exclusive interview with The Middle East, Robert Mabro, a world-renowned expert on oil and gas, talks to Pamela Ann Smith.(Interview)
July 1, 2008... [GRAPHICS OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Robert Mabro is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost experts on oil and gas. He is the founder and current honorary president of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and emeritus...

Tunisia's ports the gateway to Africa.(BUSINESS & FINANCE)
July 1, 2008... REFORMS CENTRED ON the gradual integration of Tunisia into the world economy have contributed to making the country's economic results among the best in the region. Tunisia has one of the most successful business environments on the continent...

Afghan chic.(MOSAIC)(fashion design in Afghanistan)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Afghanistan is understandably perhaps not the first country that you associate with modern design. For centuries women's stories were woven into traditional carpets, and like those rugs, the country weaves its magic...

A bitter sweet revenge.(MOSAIC)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE ANFAL CONFERENCE organised at the end of last January in Erbil, Kurdistan Iraq, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocidal campaign which left 180,000 Kurdish victims in 1988 drew a large audience--not...

A shellfish worth its weight in gold.(MOSAIC)(abalone)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WELL ALMOST. NETTING an approximate annual revenue of $60m, nowadays abalone far outstrips Oman's age-old export, frankincense, in commercial value. By the time that this prized seafood reaches the dealers of South...

Carthage jazz festival 2008.(MOSAIC)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE ECONOMICS OF jazz festivals make for the strangest of bedfellows. The occasional rap artist's bling often collides with swing. From an organiser's standpoint, it's about the juxtaposition of genres in order to...

Iran in World Politics.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... IRAN IN WORLD POLITICS by Arshin Adib-Moghaddam published by Hurst & Company ISBN 9781850659037 price 18.99 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Iran in World Politics reflects on the tumultuous...

9/11 Contradictions.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... 9/11 CONTRADICTIONS BY DAVID RAY GRIFFIN published by Arris Books ISBN 9781844370733 price: 9.99 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This work by David Ray Griffin shows that the official story of what...

Power and Water in the Middle East.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... POWER AND WATER IN THE MIDDLE EAST by Mark Zeitoun, published by IB Taurus ISBN 978-1845114640 price: 47.50 [pounds sterling] hardback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Power and Water in the Middle East provides a...

Freedom's Unsteady March.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... FREEDOM'S UNSTEADY MARCH by Tamara Cofman Wittes published by Brookings Institution Press ISBN 978 0815794940 price 15.99 [pounds sterling] hardback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tamara Cofman Wittes argues that the...

To Be an Arab in Israel.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... TO BE AN ARAB IN ISRAEL by Laurence Louer published by Hurst & Company ISBN 9781850657989 price 29.50 [pounds sterling] hardback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Laurence Louer begins her history in the 1980s when the Israeli...

Wild Mulberries.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... WILD MULBERRIES by Iman Humaydan Younes published by Interlink publishing ISBN 9781566567008 price $13.95 paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Iman Younes interweaves the coming-of-age tale of Sarah, a young woman...

The last word.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You watch a third of the running time before discovering that the characters of the movie Matrix exist only in a futuristic virtual reality. Humans physically exist, in an induced coma. Their brains feel pain, taste...