RE: job offer from SAUDI ARABIA

From: Eric D. Pierce <PierceED_at_csus.edu>
Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 11:02:34 -0700
Message-ID: <F001.00305252.20010516110912@fatcity.com>

http://www.arabia.com
-

Unfortunately Al-Jazira TV in Qatar doesn't seem to have a working web site.

??? Something linked from CBS news "60 Minutes":

http://www.aljazeera.net/

http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,13502-412,00.shtml

---excerpt---

"Recap: Sunday, May 6
...

The Tiny TV Network With A Big Mouth

Independent and uncensored, Qatar's cable news channel Al-Jazeera is making waves in the Middle East. Ed Bradley reports. ... "

---end---

http://www.tvradioworld.com/region2/qat/
-

http://www.ihorizons.com/clients/portfolio-jc.htm
-

http://www.ihorizons.com/clients/portfolio-jc-annauncement.htm
-

http://www.ihorizons.com/events/opendoor.htm

http://www.discoverislam.com/

social changes and democratic trends in muslim culture: (written by an american anthropologist)

http://wwics.si.edu/OUTREACH/WQ/WQSELECT/ISLAM.HTM

---excerpt---

...dangerously misleading to

    view developments in the Muslim
    world in terms of a clash between
    Islamic "fundamentalists" and
    Western civilization. There is a
    "fundamentalist" crisis, Malaysia's
    Muhammad Mahathir said recently,
    but it is not the one perceived by
    religious and political authorities in     many Muslim-majority countries and
    by some Western commentators. The
    real crisis, he said--correctly, in my     view--lies in the need to encourage
    more Muslims to shun the extremism
    of the few and to get back to the true     fundamentals of their
    faith--including a commitment to
    tolerance and civility. Indeed, the
    Qur'an itself (Sura 5, Verse 48)
    appears to give a final answer
    concerning the role of the Muslim
    community in a multicommunity
    world:

        "To each among you, we
         have prescribed a law and a way for
         acting. If God had so willed, he
         might have made you a single
         community, but [he has not done so]
         that he may test you in what he has
         given you; so compete in goodness."

...

---end---

comparison of the political cultures of america and europe by one of the greatest political sociologists:

http://wwics.si.edu/OUTREACH/WQ/WQSELECT/EXCEPT.HTM

example of Europe/Middle East rapprochement:

http://www.ecsanet.org
-

http://www.ecsanet.org/conferences/j%C3%BCnnemann.htm

---begin excerpt---

...

Today, relations between Europe and North Africa are characterized by distrust and growing hostility. This is partly due to the quality of the interregional relations as described above. Furthermore it is a result of the Gulf War of 1991, which has led on both sides to a revival and aggravation of old resentments:

"It is natural for both, the Arabs and the Europeans to see the failures of the other party more clearly than their own. The Gulf War leaves unhappy legacy in which stereotypes have been reinforced. The Europeans, as part of a domineering West, are seen by many Arabs as manipulative, neo-colonialist and hypocritical. The Arabs are seen by many Europeans as fanatical, treacherous, capricious and cruel. Such stereotypes form a legacy which is likely to damage future relations, since they predispose each party to negative interpretations of the other."

On both sides different groups, governmental and non-governmental, instrumentalize these resentments. It helps them to strengthen old identities or to build new ones, counterbalancing growing tendencies of disintegration. The construction of mutual enemies - "The West" on one side and "Islam" on the other - is a real challenge for the development of interregional relations in the Mediterranean. It is from this worrying background that the Barcelona initiative derives its importance.

Having thus stressed the political importance of the conference, the following text will give a detailed analysis of the Barcelona concept and its impact on European-North African relations:

Part 1 deals with the Barcelona Declaration, discussing the innovative ideas behind it.

Part 2 deals with the implementation process, analysing the multitude of risks and obstacles challenging it.

Part 3 gives a final assessment of the whole concept, reflecting its structural dilemma in the broader context of Euro-Arab relations as part of the North-South conflict.

The Barcelona Concept So far the EU has had no coherent policy neither in the Mediterranean, nor in the subregion of North Africa. This was not only political insufficiency, but it was also part of an old strategy. By treating each of the North African states differently, the EU could take advantage of the fact that the North African states are highly divided among themselves. They differ in ideologies and political systems and they are competitors for access to European markets. For decades it was a political conviction in most foreign ministries that Europe would profit from the Arab inability to unify. As long as the Arabs did not come to terms with themselves - it was thought - they would hardly be able to threaten Europe. With the stabilization of oil prices in the 1980s, problems in the region were played down to having merely a "nuisance value." In the light of the disruptions shaking North Africa today, it becomes obvious that this philosophy is outdated. Today Europe is not threatened by the power, but, on the contrary, by the weakness of the Arab world. Economic and political instability produces social conflict, encourages islamic fundamentalism and provokes migration. The lack of Arab organisations being strong enough to curb regional conflicts leaves a dangerous power-vacuum to be filled by regimes that are not necessarily pro-western. Having recognized that, the Europeans developed a new concept of interregional relations in the Mediterranean that finally led into the Barcelona Declaration. ...
---end excerpt---

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Author: Eric D. Pierce
INET: PierceED_at_csus.edu

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