Improving US Security: The TV Station

On Tuesday, I  complained about the poor quality of coverage of foreign affairs  on the Network TV stations (CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC).   But I didn’t raise this point for no reason — this is a major strategic problem.  A highly informed public is a strategic asset.  By contrast, the consequences of ignorance can be deadly.   Poorly informed [...]

On the Obama visit to Cairo….

Here’s two articles of note from Al Quds Al Arabi:
1)  The Islamic Group (Al-Gama’a Al-Islamiyya) is mounting a public_campaign  to put pressure on the new administration to release the Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (sitting in a Super-max prison for his conviction for the 1993 WTC plot).
2)  Thought it hasn’t received widespread publicity, the White House [...]

Highest Possible Endorsement

Henry Kissinger and the American Century, by Jeremy Suri.   Harvard University Press, 2007.
This book stands at the very summit of books on US foreign policy.   Henry Kissinger was one of the most important players in US foreign policy during the 20th century, in large part due to his brilliance.   But his rise was also a [...]

Al-Qaeda not in Egypt

Khalil Anani has a piece looking at recent Egyptian  government accusations that  Al-Qaeda is in Egypt and concludes that they are false.  I agree and would argue that AQ has never had a presence in Egypt.  The Egyptians usually associated with the group, such as Zawahiri, have not stepped foot in Egypt since the 1980s.

How can one be so bad, and the other so good?

Al-Jazeera journalist Ahmed Monsour never ceases to impress.  Take for example this recent  interview  with Michele  ’Aoun, leader of the Lebanese Opposition, 45 minutes of tough, no-holds barred, but respectful questions.  Whenever I watch an interview with Monsour, I know that, if there is information to be extracted, it will  be extracted.  Or if a question needs to be [...]

Mullah Omar was a key player in Al-Qaeda?

Check out this critical  review  (see below) of a book on Al-Qaeda by one of President Obama’s top Af-Pak advisors.  And then read these interesting comments on the same book by Joshua Faust. 
In Search of Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology and Futurewas published in late 2008 and offers an outline of the author’s views on the threat posed by [...]

Polling the Arab Street

Scott Macleod at TIME  analyzes the results of the 2009 Arab Public Opinion Poll.   Here are my thoughts on the poll:
1)  Middle Easterners care about the US President only because he controls US foreign policy which has some influence on their lives.
2) A US President is liked or hated by Middle Easterners solely on the basis of [...]

Translate and pass out ASAP

Someone in the USG should  translate and widely distribute this nine-page  interview on the Pakistani Taliban with a French expert on Afg-Pak.  The level of depth and nuance goes far beyond the usual coverage of Afg-Pak.  Take for example  the NY Times, which recently has been focusing heavily on the   blow-by_blow  of battles between the US Army and the Taliban, or as [...]

300?

What are we talking about when we say Al-Qaeda is in Pakistan?
The conventional wisdom in DC circles is that Al-Qaeda has “moved” to Pakistan, and that this is a huge problem.  But I want to know  what this is supposed to mean?  In my view, simply saying “Al-Qaeda is in Pakistan” doesn’t tell us anything of importance.  [...]

Egyptians and “the Speech”

“Hey Rob, what do Egyptians think about Obama coming to Cairo?” 
I’ve been asked this alot recently, so I guess I owe some people a quick post.   There are two broad reactions:  one small group is excited; the larger group doesn’t care or is hostile.  And yes, before anyone gets mad,  there may be some exceptions to each rule….
1) The [...]

Thoughts on engaging Islamists/the Cairo speech

It’s good  to see a new willingness in US foreign policy circles to reevaluate the broad hostility to all things Islamist that emerged in Washington in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.  Obviously, this was the right approach towards al-Qaeda.  It wasn’t clear that it was a smart idea to refuse any contact with groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah [...]

Why pay when you can get it for free?

How can you figure out a foreign government’s intentions?  In Washington, there is this belief that governments or even sub-state movements such as Hezbollah are by nature secretive and don’t just tell people what they want to do.  Only the naive would assume what they heard a leader say, for example,  is actually what he means.  Therefore,  you’ll often find this tendency [...]

Hezbollah Deals with “Shia Salafism” in Lebanon

Very interesting article on the  apparent problem of “Shia Salafism”  and what certain Shia players are doing to deal with it.  While ”Salafism” is usually associated with Sunni Islam,  it is applicable here in the sense that “Salafi,” as understood in contemporary Islamism, essentially describes a more dogmatic approach to dealing with society compared to pragmatic groups such as the Muslim [...]

Iran vs the Arabs

I never really know what to make of it.  On one hand, the governments of Egypt and the Gulf are very vocal about how much they consider Iran a threat.   But at the popular level, at least in Egypt, a large portion, maybe even the  majority, considers Iran a potential ally against the US and Israel.   [...]

The Taliban speaks- maybe we should listen?

This  5/10 Al-Jazeera interview with the leader of the Taliban political committee should be translated into English and read by anyone interested in US strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.   Recently, the US media has been filled with analysis of the Taliban’s strategy and intentions, much of it focusing on the Taliban’s apparent interest in taking over Pakistan [...]

Recommended Reading

I want to flag Ibrahim Hudaybi’s study of the intelectual philosophy of  Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Banna at Islam Online (parts one, two, three,  and  four).   The author is a prominent Brotherhood  intellectual from the younger generation.

Watch this film: Tito

Anyone remotely interested in the Middle East (presumably all MediaShack readers) should watch the Egyptian film Tito.   I had almost forgotten how good it was until yesterday when I watched for probably the tenth time.  Here’s the  trailer which even non-Arabic speakers can understand the basic  gist of. 
I won’t reveal any critical details but here’s the basic plot: [...]

What about that surprise thing?

A couple of readers have asked me recently about the “surprise” in Middle Eastern media that I’ve said is going to happen soon.  No, it hasn’t happened yet.  But I just talked to “The King” and he assures me it is coming soon.  I’ll give readers a hint: OVERLORD  didn’t take place as originally planned.

To condition or not to condition?

That is  the dilemma on US aid policy to Egypt:  Should  assistance (financial or military) be contingent upon certain Egyptian domestic reforms as some members of Congress suggest?  Or does doing so harm the US-Egypt military relationship and cause the Mubarak regime to dig in against reform?  Matthew Axelrod, a Fulbright scholar who is researching the US-Egypt [...]

Check it out

Of couple of  MediaShack readers have a new  article out on Salafi Media in Egypt.