The Middle East articles from June 2008

The Middle East archives from June 2008

Comment.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(Viewpoint essay)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] FEARS WERE WIDELY expressed about the likelihood of a US attack on Iran before President George Bush finally leaves the White House in January 2009. Others anticipated an Israeli strike against Syria was on the...

Crumbling coalitions: George W. Bush's 'coalitions of the willing' in Iraq and Afghanistan are crumbling as casualties and global opposition to his war on terror escalates.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] THE US-LED ALLIANCE in Iraq that George W. Bush once called, with sweeping hyperbole, "the coalition of the willing", is falling apart at a rapid rate. In Afghanistan, another coalition is starting to crumble amid...

US dictates terms of Syria-Israel peace: Mel Frykberg reports from West Jerusalem.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
June 1, 2008... IN THE DOUBLE-SPEAK, innuendo, bravado and brinkmanship that characterises political negotiations in the Middle East, a glimmer of hope has emerged with the stated possibility of a negotiated peace between Syria and the Jewish state. ...

New hurdles hamper Libya's rehabilitation: Libya's president, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, was a global pariah when Saddam Hussein was still the West's best friend. But how times change. Between Saddam Hussein being captured, tried and hanged, the Libyan president had remodelled himself and his country to emerge as shining examples of total rehabilitation in the eyes of the world.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] IT IS NOT quite 20 years since Pan Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people on board and on the ground. Libya has since been linked with the atrocity--its full role still not...

Who calls the shots? Intervention or meddling? In essence it amounts to the same thing. Mustapha Karkouti reports from the Gulf on how a number of non-Arab powers are playing an increasing role in shaping the region's political and economic future.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
June 1, 2008... IT IS BECOMING clear that four non-Arab powers are currently, for the first time in half a century, struggling for regional supremacy in the Middle East. The Big Four: the US, Iran, Turkey and Israel, sometimes try to achieve their goals...

Drugs trade takes its toll in Middle East region.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] All too frequently the death and destruction the international drugs trade leaves in its wake is regarded as a purely western problem. However, the annual report of the United Nations International Narcotics Control...

The ugly face of Israel's neo-Nazis.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
June 1, 2008... A disturbing number of attacks by a gang of self-styled neo-Nazis has caused shockwaves in Israel and the Occupied Territories. What is particularly disconcerting for the Jewish state is that all of the arrested gang members had immigrated to...

West Bank land grab: Israel forges ahead with settlement expansion and dooms any prospect of peace accord.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
June 1, 2008... AS US PRESIDENT George W. Bush, faced with doom and gloom over Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and a host of other foreign policy blunders, belatedly turns his administration's attention to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the desperate hope of notching up...

Ethiopia: at the threshold of a renaissance: Ethiopia celebrates its third millennium against a backdrop of a rejuvenated economy, with an average growth rate of 11.9% in the last five successive years. All indicators show that the country, with a proud history going back 3,000 years, is on the cusp of a profound economic and social transformation.(COUNTRY REPORT)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ethiopia entered its third millennium on its New Year's Day, 1 Meskerem 2000 (or 12 September 2007 in the Gregorian calendar). Ethiopia's calendar year begins September, comprising of 12 months of 30 days and one...

Caftan, with passion.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... FOR THE 12TH consecutive year Morocco was the venue for an exciting fashion event that gives opportunity to burgeoning new talent and much needed funds to a worthy cause. Even though education is a universal right, women and girls are far...

GCC currencies & the euro.(BUSINESS & FINANCE)
June 1, 2008... While the currencies of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries have depreciated alongside the dollar, the depreciation is even worse in the case of the euro, making many of the Gulf's imports more expensive. Some feel that this "imported...

Jeddah's building boom: Jon Gorvett reports from Saudi Arabia.(BUSINESS & FINANCE)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHEN IT COMES to the Middle East's recent real estate and construction boom, most international attention has been on the lower Gulf states. Yet these days, the other side of the Arabian Peninsula is catching...

Oil & gas: how high can prices go? A report researched and written by international economic analyst Moin Siddiqi.(SPECIAL REPORT: OIL & GAS)(Cover story)
June 1, 2008... THE INEXORABLE SURGE in crude oil prices from below $70/ barrel last August defies the conventional wisdom that says prices will drop when global economic activity slows and energy demand decelerates. According to the International Monetary...

The 'dash to gas' in the Middle East.(SPECIAL REPORT: OIL & GAS)
June 1, 2008... A RAPIDLY GROWING POPULATION and industrialisation across the region require vast quantities of power. Proven natural gas reserves of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are estimated at 81.23 trillion cubic metres, some 45% of the world's...

Tunisian synagogues flourish though the Jews have gone: although most of Tunisia's Jewish population has relocated to other countries, its synagogues are thriving, providing a focus for international tourism, especially after President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali took the bold step of authorising funds to restore these historic monuments to Tunisia's proud heritage. A report special to The Middle East magazine.(MOSAIC)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] A MAN ON A donkey shuffles by, collecting trash in the midday heat. Merchants hawk their wares in French and Arabic from stalls lining the cobblestone streets. Here in Le Kef, a sun-drenched city of 120,000, where...

Saudi filmmakers find their voice: if you don't agree with how the rest of the world portrays your country, then take steps to portray it to a global audience yourself, seems to be the maxim of an emerging generation of Saudi Arabian filmmakers. Jon Gorvett reports from Jeddah.(MOSAIC)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IMAGES OF SAUDI Arabia on the silver screen are generally few and far between. In Jeddah, over strong tea and syrupy cakes, a group of young Saudi movie directors are clear about what they think of the latest...

The Lure of the East.(MOSAIC)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ORIENTALISM--THE representation of the East in western arts and literature--is the hot topic in London this month, although some would say the genre is never out of vogue in the British capital, one of the world's...

The brush embroiderer: Carolina Tolstoy, an artist and sculptor of Middle Eastern descent who draws inspiration for her work from Islamic and Ottoman art talked to Juliet Highet for The Middle East magazine.(MOSAIC)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MAGICIAN WITH ARABESQUES, conjuror with scrolls, romancer with sweeping leaves, Carolinda Tolstoy has covered her ceramics with these and other design motifs for many successful years. Recently, dramatically, they...

Strategic Interests in the Middle East.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2008... STRATEGIC INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST Edited by Jack Covarrubias and Tom Lansford published by Ashgate Publishing ISBN 9780754670339 price 55.00 [pounds sterling] hardback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Strategic Interests...

Chasing the Flame.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2008... CHASING THE FLAME By Samantha Power published by Allen Lane ISBN 978-0713998412 price 25.00 [pounds sterling] hardback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chasing the Flame is a biography that brings us deep into episodes of...

Iraq, Then & Now.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2008... IRAQ, THEN & NOW By Karen Dabrowska and Geoff Hann published by Bradt ISBN 9781841622439 price 15.99 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Not attempting to be a tourist guide book, "Iraq then" explores...

Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2008... ISMAILIS IN MEDIEVAL MUSLIM SOCIETIES By Farhad Daftary published by I.B Taurus ISBN 9781845110918 price 29.50 [pounds sterling] hardback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies analyses Ismaili...

The Temple of Jerusalem.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2008... THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM By Simon Goldhill published by Profile Books ISBN 9781861976987 price 8.99 [pounds sterling] paperback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Simon Goldhill explores the history of the Temple of Jerusalem and...

From Eden to Exile.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2008... FROM EDEN TO EXILE By Eric H Cline published by National Geographic ISBN 9781426200847 price 16.99 [pounds sterling] hardback [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In From Eden to Exile, Eric Cline uncovers some of the Bible's most...

The last word.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Why Washington exposed the details of Israel's raid deep inside Syria last September, which both nations had kept secret, remains a mystery, giving Middle East specialists plenty to speculate on, while opening up a...