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5202. Hizb'allah's communication strategy: making friends and intimidating enemies
- Author:
- Rune Friberg Lyme
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
- Abstract:
- Managing external communication has proven an increasingly significant concern to Lebanese Hizb'allah. This report argues that the organisation has developed a highly sophisticated communication strategy that enables it to address a variety of target groups efficiently with differentiated aspects of its particular ideologically informed message, using the particular media platform best suited for this purpose. In doing so, the communication serves two main objectives: first, to disseminate aspects of the organisation's religiously informed world-view, ideology, values, motives and moral codes; and secondly, to conduct psychological warfare against its enemies.
- Topic:
- Islam, Terrorism, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Arabia
5203. Democratic Talk and the Democratic Walk: Superficial Versus Sincere Support for Illiterate Voting Rights in Lebanon
- Author:
- Daniel Corstange
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Who supports illiterate voting rights? In the diverse societies of the developing world, suffrage restrictions on illiterate people can have both class and ethnic ramifications because illiteracy correlates with poverty and often with ethnic group membership. I demonstrate how examining the overlap of ethnic population distributions helps to identify individuals for whom satisfying material interests comes at the expense of identity interests and vice-versa. The salience of ethnicity in public discourse requires people to articulate identity demands that may be inconsistent with their material interests, opening up the possibility that what they say and what they think will diverge systematically. Empirically, I use an augmented list experiment in Lebanon to distinguish between superficial and sincere support for illiterate voting rights. I show that a direct question yields a sectarian answer in which Shiites are more supportive of those rights than are Sunnis or Christians, whereas an unobtrusive question produces an answer about material deprivation in which poor people are more supportive of illiterate voting than rich people.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, and Social Stratification
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arabia, and Lebanon
5204. Israel's Religious Right and the Question of Settlements
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Benjamin Netanyahu is in a bind. Israel is facing arguably unprecedented pressure to halt all settlement activity, led by a new and surprisingly determined U.S. administration. But the prime minister also heads a distinctly right-wing coalition and faces intense domestic pressure from settlers and their allies. However important, what will emerge from current discussions between Washington and Jerusalem will only be step one in a long process designed to achieve a settlement freeze, settlement evacuation and a genuine peace agreement with the Palestinians. Understanding how Israel might deal with these challenges requires understanding a key yet often ignored constituency - its growing and increasingly powerful religious right.
- Topic:
- Politics, Religion, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
5205. Repairing US-Russian Relations: A Long Road Ahead
- Author:
- Eugene B. Rumer and Angela E. Stent
- Publication Date:
- 04-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- At the end of the Bush administration, relations between the United States and Russia had reached their lowest point since the Cold War. The promise of a new direction in U.S.-Russian relations since President Barak Obama's London meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev has led to expectations on both sides of the Atlantic that bilateral ties will improve substantially. Such a change would be highly desirable, for it would enhance the odds of success for many U.S. initiatives from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the Far East and the Pacific. But that improvement will not come easily or quickly. It took years to reach the current nadir in the relationship between Washington and Moscow, and there are still questions remaining on their diverging values and competing interests that have to be resolved.
- Topic:
- Cold War, Diplomacy, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Washington, Middle East, Asia, and Moscow
5206. Preventing Conflict Over Kurdistan
- Author:
- Henri J. Barkey
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The consequences of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq will doubtless be debated for years to come. One result, however, is already clear: the long suppressed nationalist aspirations of the Kurdish people now dispersed across four states—Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria—have been aroused, perhaps irrevocably, by the war. Already in Iraq, Kurdish regions, which have benefited from Saddam Hussein's overthrow, have consolidated themselves into a federal region. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is a reality and a force for further Kurdish empowerment as it seeks to incorporate other Kurdish-majority areas and the oil-rich Kirkuk province in particular into its domain. The KRG's existence and demands have already alarmed all of Iraq's neighbors and the Baghdad government. The issues are far from being settled. If ignored or badly handled, Kurdish aspirations have the potential to cause considerable instability and violence in Iraq and beyond at a particularly delicate time.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Nationalism, and Armed Struggle
- Political Geography:
- Iraq, Turkey, Middle East, and Kurdistan
5207. Nuclear Energy: Rebirth or Resuscitation?
- Author:
- Sharon Squassoni
- Publication Date:
- 02-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- After several decades of disappointing growth, nuclear energy seems poised for a comeback. Talk of a "nuclear renaissance" includes perhaps a doubling or tripling of nuclear capacity by 2050, spreading nuclear power to new markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and developing new kinds of reactors and fuel-reprocessing techniques. But the reality of nuclear energy's future is more complicated. Without major changes in government policies and aggressive financial support, nuclear power is actually likely to account for a declining percentage of global electricity generation.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Nuclear Weapons, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Southeast Asia
5208. Asaib Ahl al Haq and the Special Groups
- Author:
- Marisa Cochrane Sullivan
- Publication Date:
- 01-2009
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of War
- Abstract:
- Multi-National Force-Iraq has identified various Shia extremist groups operating in Iraq, often using the label Special Groups or Secret Cells. MNF-I named Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH, or the Leage of the Righteous) as an active group on August 19, 2008 and released information that AAH is "affiliated" with Special Groups.This paper evaluates how the two groups, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Special Groups are affiliated by testing four hypotheses about the relationship between the Special Groups network, led at one time by Qais Khazali, and Asaib Ahl al Haq (League of the Righteous).
- Topic:
- Armed Struggle, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
5209. Fragile Intimacies: Marriage and Love in the Palestinian Camps of Jordan (1948-2001)
- Author:
- Stephanie Latte Abdallah
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This article focuses on conjugal love as an articulated, lived emotion; on relationships between spouses within the context of the family; and on how these emotions and relations have changed over time in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. Based on interviews with four generations of Palestinian camp women, the article charts evolving marital patterns and attitudes toward marriage in relation to changing political circumstances and diverse influences. Particular emphasis is given to the third generation and the emergence of individualization of choice and its consequences. The influence of the family and the role of protection in the formation of conjugal bonds are also addressed.
- Topic:
- Security and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Middle East, and Jordan
5210. Bibliography of Periodical Literature
- Publication Date:
- 07-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section lists articles and reviews of books relevant to Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Entries are classified under the following headings: Reference and General; History (through 1948) and Geography; Palestinian Politics and Society; Jerusalem; Israeli Politics, Society, and Zionism; Arab and Middle Eastern Politics; International Relations; Law; Military; Economy, Society, and Education; Literature, Arts, and Culture; Book Reviews; and Reports Received.
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Arabia, and Jerusalem
5211. Energy and the 3 Levels of National Security: Differentiating Energy Concerns within a National Security Context
- Author:
- Phillip E. Cornell
- Publication Date:
- 10-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- The past several years have seen a renewed interest in the confluence of energy security and national security policy. Defining the intersection between such wideranging policy areas has been predictably inconsistent, and highly dependent on respective national and agent-based interests. At both national and multinational levels, conflicting objectives and definitions have driven confused attempts to develop singular "energy security" policies within an international security context. Since 2006, NATO has been engaged in a concerted if arduous and controversial process of defining the value the organization adds to the security environment. The new U.S. administration has put energy security front and center on its agenda, particularly in relation to foreign and security policy, but a confused interagency jumble has left many hands on the rudder of foreign energy policy. In the media as well as policy circles, cut-offs of Russian gas, Somali piracy, SCADA system vulnerabilities, terrorist attacks on Middle East pipelines, nuclear safety, and volatile gasoline prices have been too often lumped together.
- Topic:
- Security and NATO
- Political Geography:
- United States and Middle East
5212. Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces
- Author:
- Steven R. Ward
- Publication Date:
- 03-2009
- Content Type:
- Book
- Abstract:
- In 1978 Iran And Its Armed Forces seemed to stand at the peak of their power and prestige in the modern era. Bountiful oil revenues and a strategic position overlooking the vital Persian Gulf oil export routes boosted Iran's standing in the world. Cold War competition made Iran a recipient of Western and Soviet arms and attention. Iran had just passed Egypt, a far more populous country, in having the largest armed forces in the Middle East. In fact, the Iranian military was outpacing some large European countries in the quantity and sophistication of its equipment. Iran was the only country other than the United States to possess the state- of- the- art F- 14 Tomcat fighter. Iran's military also was funding the development of the advanced British Challenger tank with its then revolutionary Chobham composite armor. These programs rep- resented only the middle stages of an extravagant rearmament process, with numerous sophisticated ground, air, and naval systems on order. In addition, the Iranian armed forces, the Artesh, had polished their reputation by gaining combat experience battling rebels in neighboring Oman and by participating in a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
- Topic:
- War
- Political Geography:
- Iran and Middle East
5213. Harmonizing Foreign Policy: Turkey, the EU and the Middle East (Mesut Ozcan)
- Author:
- Kutbettin Kilic
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
- Institution:
- Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
- Abstract:
- Turkish foreign policy has made a remarkable achievement in recent years, raising the influence of Turkey in surrounding critical regions, extending from the Balkans to the Middle East and as well as in international politics. With Harmonizing Foreign Policy: Turkey, the EU and the Middle East, Mesut Ozcan sets about to explicate a part of this picture, that is, the shift in Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle East, which, the author argues, becomes more visible in policies towards Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 1999 is the beginning of the aforementioned shift, according to Ozcan, a year in which the EU gave Turkey a candidature status and Abdullah Ocalan, the leader and founder of the PKK, was arrested. This was also a year that provided Turkish decision makers with a democratic opening in foreign policy—a shift from security-oriented foreign policy to a democracy-oriented one. From that time onwards, Turkey, according to Ozcan, has been exposed to the process of Europeanization of foreign policy, a process that has taken Turkey away from a foreign policy under American influence.
- Political Geography:
- America, Europe, Turkey, and Middle East
5214. Ephrat: Spiritual Wayfarers, Leaders in Piety: Sufis and the Dissemination of Islam in Medieval Palestine
- Author:
- Diana Abouali
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Spiritual Wayfarers, Leaders in Piety: Sufis and the Dissemination of Islam in Medieval Palestine, by Daphna Ephrat. Cambridge, MA: Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Harvard University, Harvard University Press, 2008. xi + 201 pages. Bibliography to p. 218. Index to p. 223. $19.95 paper. Diana Abouali is assistant professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures at Dartmouth College.
- Topic:
- Islam
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Asia, and Palestine
5215. Blanford: Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East
- Author:
- Amer Mohsen
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Following the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, a mythology was instantly created around his person and legacy. Used extensively in the political campaign that became known as the “Cedar Revolution,” television programs, documentaries, and songs idolizing the ex-prime minister also started to fill the Lebanese airwaves and canonize Hariri as an unadulterated symbol of Lebanese nationalism, independence, and modernity. Nicholas Blanford's Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East , far from casting a critical eye on this mode of history-writing, reproduces elements of this mythology.
- Political Geography:
- New York and Middle East
5216. Settlement Monitor
- Author:
- Geoffrey Aronson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- This section covers items—reprinted articles, statistics, and maps—pertaining to Israeli settlement activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Unless otherwise stated, the items have been written by Geoffrey Aronson for this section or drawn from material written by him for Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories (hereinafter Settlement Report), a Washington-based bimonthly newsletter published by the Foundation for Middle East Peace. JPS is grateful to the foundation for permission to draw on its material.
- Political Geography:
- Washington, Middle East, Israel, and Gaza
5217. Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in the Twentieth Century
- Author:
- Juan Cole
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Macalester International
- Institution:
- Macalester College
- Abstract:
- Iraq and Israel/Palestine may on the surface appear to be very different societies with little in common. Iraq has its Kurds, Sunni Arabs, and Shiites, and its modern history has been a struggle over monarchy, republicanism, and the one-party state. Israel and Palestine are Jewish, Sunni Arab, and Christian Arab, and their central struggle has been over the shape of the Zionist state and the question of Palestinian statelessness. Iraq is a hydrocarbon state, while Israel and Palestine have diverse economies. The two can fruitfully be viewed through the same prism in two ways, however. On a comparative level, they share much in common, being multi-ethnic states with a background in Ottoman and British colonial administrative practices. Their fragility and ethnic instability have driven both internal civil wars and wars with neighbors. They have also had an important impact upon one another. The rise of Zionism in the Middle East and the Arab rejection of it robbed Iraq of its vibrant and influential Jewish community, with fateful results. It also displaced thousands of Palestinians to Iraq and hundreds of thousands to neighboring Kuwait. Iraqi troops fought Israel, with Iraq supporting its Palestinian foes. The Palestinians of Kuwait were further displaced by the Gulf War, and those of Iraq had to flee to Jordan and Palestine after 2003. The Israel lobby in the United States was one important mover in fomenting the 2003 U.S. overthrow of the Iraqi government, which propelled Iraq into chaos.
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, Middle East, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, and Jordan
5218. Hydro-Politics: Water and Difficult Dialogues on Resources
- Author:
- Abdel Rahman Tamimi
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Macalester International
- Institution:
- Macalester College
- Abstract:
- Water is considered the most important factor leading to instability and conflict in the Middle East region. Recent analyses and reports point to the fact that the problem of water will get much more complicated than current politics can handle. This is primarily because the problem is in conjunction with the natural features of the region: it is dry and desert terrain. Indeed, desert covers 60% of Israel, 70% of Syria, 85% of Jordan, and 90% of Egypt.
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan
5219. Israel's Mizrahim: "Other" Victims of Zionism or a Bridge to Regional Reconciliation?
- Author:
- Franklin Hugh Adler
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Macalester International
- Institution:
- Macalester College
- Abstract:
- It may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with Israeli society, and especially those who have been led to believe it primarily composed of European Jews who settled in the Middle East, that roughly half of Israel's Jewish population is made up of Jews who for millennia were deeply rooted in the region and summarily expelled from Arab states after Israel was founded in 1948. In fact, this Arab Jewish population exceeds in number those Palestinians who were displaced, and it possessed substantially greater property that was confiscated without compensation upon expulsion.
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Middle East, and Israel
5220. Meditations on a Middle-East Pilgrimage: Impasse, Memory, Hope/Promise
- Author:
- Dr. Lucy A. Forster-Smith
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Macalester International
- Institution:
- Macalester College
- Abstract:
- The human community yearns for a home, for place, for a “storied space,” as Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann says, where meaning is attached to a place “because of the history lodged there.”1 This yearning is no more evident than in the daily reality of those living in Israel and the Palestinian Occupied Territories. For Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Baha'is who live in this region and those drawn to it as a pilgrimage destination, it is a place where the power of history and the impasse of the present weigh upon the pilgrim's stride. Often the assumption for those from lands beyond the Middle East is that by leaving their home community and going to seek the sacred in a holy place, they will strengthen or restore their faith. Yet many times those who come from far-off places to seek the holy in the Holy Land encounter the pilgrim spirit in those who long for home, those whose pilgrim's way longs for a homeland, but hits walls, stumbles on slippery slopes, is snared by economic challenges—and their faith falters as they locate their story in the painful quest for the Holy Land. The pilgrim way heeds impasse, memory, and hope. In my encounter with this land, I also navigated the complex pilgrim's way through the eyes of university students, faculty members, administrators, and workers for peace.
- Political Geography:
- Middle East