The Middle East Journal back issues from July 2002:
Editor's note
Jul 01, 2002; ... The Middle East sometimes seems unchanging. The seeming intractability of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the moment, and the persistent problems of poverty, population growth, and a history of authoritarianism can easily lead one to assume that the region is somehow immune to historical ...
Foreign aid for promoting democracy in the Arab World
Jul 01, 2002; ... Western and international democratization projects in the Arab world, as elsewhere, have been controversial mainly because, unlike traditional foreign aid through government-to-government channels that strengthened executive institutions, projects in the fields of elections, rule of law, and ...
Arab education: Tradition, growth and reform
Jul 01, 2002; ... In recent decades, Arab education has achieved substantial growth in quantitative terms, with enrollments and other indicators expanding dramatically, including for females. Arab students can choose from different educational systems. Yet a lively discussion about quality is taking place ...
Post-Islamist rumblings in Egypt: The emergence of the Wasat party
Jul 01, 2002; ... This article examines the emergence of the Wasat party initiative in Egypt. Whether such a group constitutes a political development in Islamic groupings in comparison to the traditional paradigm is the main focus. The Wasat is analyzed within a post-Islamist framework. The influences on the ...
Anti-narcotics responses in Jordan
Jul 01, 2002; ... Jordan has long been an important transit route for the smugglers of illicit drugs. As in much of the Arab World, fears are rising over increasing local addiction levels. Amman has been a regional leader in admitting the existence of such a problem. Official state responses have tended to focus ...
Transforming the old: Cairo's new medieval city
Jul 01, 2002; ... The Islamic architecture of Cairo, as monuments and as historic city, for the past fifty years undervalued, neglected, and increasingly beleaguered on many fronts, is currently the focus of a "massive", but little publicized, intervention by the Egyptian government. The "who," "what," "why," and ...
Chronology: Arab-Israeli conflict
Jul 01, 2002; ... ABBREVIATIONS AA, Anadolu Agency AN, ArabicNews.com AP, Associated Press BBC, British Broadcasting Company (www.bbc.co.uk) FT, The Financial Times GN, Gulf News Online (www.gulf-news.com) MEED, Middle East Economic Digest ...
Chronology: Central Asia and the Caucasus
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also Turkey 2002 Jan. 17: Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akayev signed a law that extended a moratorium on death sentences, and defined a human rights program under which the death penalty would be abolished by 2010. [NYT, 1/17] Feb. 1: A court in Tashkent, ...
Chronology: Information technology
Jul 01, 2002; ... 2002 Jan. 11: As a result of constant government interference, Mustafa Terrab, the head of Agence Nationale de Reglementation des Telecommunications (ANTR), Morocco's telecoms regulator, resigned. He said that he "lost faith in ANTR's ability to function independently." [MEED, 1/18] ...
Chronology: Palestinian affairs
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also Arab-Israeli Affairs, Regional Affairs, Saudi Arabia 2002 Feb. 13: Yasir Arafat rebuked his top lieutenant Col. Jibril Rajoub, for ...
Chronology: Petroleum affairs
Jul 01, 2002; ... 2002 Jan. 16: New oil fields were discovered in two residential areas in downtown Baghdad. [AN, 1/171 It was reported in mid- January that President Husni Mubarak of Egypt gave the goahead for launching the Sharq al Zeit oil field, in the Gulf of Suez. The new discovery was the ...
Chronology: Regional affairs
Jul 01, 2002; ... 2002 Jan. 16: US President George W. Bush, citing security concerns, barred union representation at the US attorney's offices and four other Justice Department agencies. [NYT, 1/161 Jan. 24: US Budget Director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. said that President Bush had voiced his ...
Chronology: Afghanistan
Jul 01, 2002; ... 2002 Jan. 16: Interim leader Harold Karzai issued a decree banning the cultivation of opium poppies, reviving a great effort previously waged by the Taliban against such means of making income among struggling Afghan farmers. [NYT, 1/17] Jan. 21: Two Marines were killed and ...
Chronology: Algeria
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also Information Technology, Petroleum Affairs 2002 Jan. 26: An explosion in the Bir Mourad Rais district in Algiers injured three people. [BBC, 1/26] Feb. 5: Islamic rebels killed twenty-two people in two attacks on an area near Sidi Lakhdar. [BBC, 2/5] ...
Chronology: Bahrain
Jul 01, 2002; ... 2002 Feb. 4: The Bahraini Commerce and Industry and Finance ministries decided to do away with the export duties to the US on the locally-produced, ready-made garments to help boost the island's garment industry. [GN, 2/ 04] Feb. 10: In his address on the Bahrain Defense Force ...
Chronology: Iran
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Petroleum Affairs, Regional Affairs 2002 Jan. 19: The US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has repeated American concerns and has specifically warned Tehran against sending militants into Afghanistan. President George W. Bush had ...
Chronology: Egypt
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Information Technology, Petroleum Affairs, Regional Affairs 2002 Jan. 19: The Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert Mueller, arrived in Egypt to discuss with senior Egyptian officials the steps taken to prevent international ...
Chronology: Iraq
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also Arab-Israeli Conflict, Petroleum Affairs, Regional Affairs, Kuwait, Iran 2002 Jan. 17: Iraqi President Saddam Husayn said Baghdad was ready for another fullscale attack by America but would defeat any new military campaign. In a speech marking the 1 lth anniversary of ...
Chronology: Israel
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Arab-Israeli conflict, Regional Affairs Feb. 20: The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israelis converted by Conservative or Reform Rabbis would be officially registered as Jews. This decision reduced the control of the Israeli Orthodox chief rabbinate and ...
Chronology: Jordan
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Information ...
Chronology: Lebanon
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also Arab-Israel, Petroleum Affairs 2002 Jan. 24: Former Lebanese warlord and minister Elie Hobeika was killed in a car explosion that also killed three of his bodyguards. Hobeika, former head of the Christian militia, was held responsible for the Sabra and Chalita massacres in ...
Chronology: Libya
Jul 01, 2002; ... 2002 Jan. 24: Representatives from Libya and the United States held talks in an effort to reconcile relations between the countries. [BBC, 1/ 24] Attorneys for 'Abdalbasit 'Ali Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, appealed ...
Chronology: Kuwait
Jul 01, 2002; ... 2002 Jan. 28: The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, Shaykh Sabah al-Ahmad Al Sabah, said there was nothing new in the reconciliation proposals the Arab League Secretary General, `Amr Musa, passed on from Iraq the previous week. Shaykh Sabah repeated Kuwait's long-standing position that it would ...
Chronology: Morocco
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also Information Technology 2002 Jan. 17: The International Red Cross in Geneva confirmed that the Polisario Independence Movement had released 115 Moroccan prisoners of war. [BBC, 1/17] Jan. 23: Moroccan Prince Moulay Hicham left Morocco with intentions to live in ...
Chronology: Pakistan
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Central Asia and the Caucasus, Information Technology, Regional Affairs 2002 Jan. 16: Pakistan's military government abolished electoral laws that allowed religious minorities to elect only representatives of their respective communities. The Associated Press of ...
Chronology: Saudi Arabia
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Petroleum Affairs, Regional Affairs 2002 Jan. 27: Chief of Saudi intelligence Prince Nawaf bin `Abdul `Aziz, warned US President Bush not to weaken Palestinian leader Yasir `Arafat. Declaring `Arafat a "man of peace," `Aziz claimed that all ...
Chronology: Sudan
Jul 01, 2002; ... 2002 Jan. 19: In the Buergenstock resort near Lucerne, Switzerland, the government of Sudan signed a six-month, renewable ceasefire agreement with the Sudan People's Liberation Army to end nine years of conflict in the Nuba Mountains. [BBC, 1/19; WP, 1/ 20] Feb. 13: A Sudanese ...
Chronology: Syria
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Information Technology, Petroleum Affairs 2002 Jan. 27: Two Syrian merchant ships were intercepted and searched by the US Navy. The US claimed this action was part of its war on terror. The Syrian authorities described it as an act of piracy. [BBC, 1130] Jan. 30: The Syrian ...
Chronology: Tunisia
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Information Technology 2002 Feb. 13: Tunisian President Zine al-`Abidine bin `Ali announced plans for a vote on constitutional reform that would include issues about human rights and a two-chamber parliament. [BBC, 214] Feb. 19: Tunisian President Zine ...
Chronology: Turkey
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Regional Affairs, Afghanistan, 2002 Jan. 16: The European Union Commission announced that 167 Euro were released to Turkey under the 2001 MEDA Programme financial plan to be applied to investments by small and medium scale entrepreneurs, local ...
Chronology: Yemen
Jul 01, 2002; ... See also, Central Asia and the Caucasus, ...
The Committee / A Matter of Fate: The Concept of Fate in the Arab World as Reflected in Modern Arabic Literature / The Last Summer of Reason
Jul 01, 2002; ... THE IDEA OF FATE IN CONTEMPORARY ARABIC FICTION The Committee, by Sun 'Allah Ibrahim. Tr. from Arabic by Mary St. Germain and Charlene Constable. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2001. 166 pages. $22.95. A Matter of Fate: the Concept of Fate in the Arab World as ...
Afghanistan: The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, ant the Future of the Region / Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban
Jul 01, 2002; ... The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region, by Neamatollah Nojumi. New York: Palgrave, 2002. xii + 231 pages. Chron. Abbrevs. Notes to p. 247. Bibl. to p. 251. Index to p. 260. $65 cloth; $18.95 paper. Afghanistan's Endless War: ...
Arabian Peninsula: The Rise and Fall of the Hashimite Kingdom of Arabia
Jul 01, 2002; ... The Rise and Fall of the Hashimite King. dom of Arabia, by Joshua Teitelbaum. New York: New York University Press, 2001. xviii + 288 pages. Abbrevs. Bibl. to p. 303. Index to p. 310. $40. Joshua Teitelbaum of Tel Aviv University has written what will become the standard history of the ...
Central Asia: To Moscow, Not Mecca: The Soviet Campaign Against Islam in Central Asia, 1917-1941
Jul 01, 2002; ... To Moscow, Not Mecca: The Soviet Campaign Against Islam in Central Asia, 19171941, by Shoshana Keller. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2001. xix + 254 pages. Gloss. to p. 260. Bibl. to p. 270. Index to p. 277. About the Author. $64.95. This substantial scholarly work traces the ...
Egypt: A Grand Delusion: Democracy and Economic Reform in Egypt
Jul 01, 2002; ... A Grand Delusion: Democracy and Economic Reform in Egypt, by Eberhard Kienle. London and New York: LB. Tauris Publishers, 2001. xiv + 200 pages. Notes to p. 245. Bibl. to p. 267. Index to p. 274. $59.50 cloth; $24.50 paper. The title of this work is misleading, for while Kienle provides ...
Iran: Origins of Social Democracy in Modern Iran
Jul 01, 2002; ... IRAN Origins of Social Democracy in Modern Iran, by Cosroe Chaqueri. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2001. 197 pages. Chron. Appendix to p. 219. Illust. to p. 257. Notes to p. 327. Refs. to p. 343. Index to p. 352. $40. Reviewed by Mangol Bayat Cosroe ...
Iran: Missing Persians: Discovering Voices in Iranian Cultural History
Jul 01, 2002; ... Missing Persians: Discovering Voices in Iranian Cultural History, by Nasrin Rahimieh. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2001. xiii + 167 pages. Works cited to p. 176. Index to p. 191. $34.95 cloth; $17.95 paper. In Missing Persians, Nasrin Rahimieh explores the questions of ...
Iran: In the Shadow of the Ayatollah: A CIA Hostage in Iran
Jul 01, 2002; ... In the Shadow of the Ayatollah: A CIA Hostage in Iran, by William J. Daugherty. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2001. xviii + 222 pages. Notes to p. 243. Bibl. to p. 250. Index to p. 258. $29.95. This work is an enthralling firsthand account of the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-- ...
Israel: The Invention and Decline of Israeliness: State, Society, and the Military
Jul 01, 2002; ... The Invention and Decline of Israeliness: State, Society, and the Military, by Baruch Kimmerling. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA and London, UK: University of California Press, 2001. x + 237 pages. Refs. to p. 236. Index to p. 268. $45. Reviewed by Ian S. Lustick Most readers of ...
Education and media: The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Israeli History Textbooks, 1948-2000
Jul 01, 2002; ... The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Israeli History Textbooks, 1948-2000, by Elie Podeh. Westport, CT and London, UK: Bergin & Garvey, 2001. xii+ 155 pages. Appends. to p. 177. Bibl. top. 177. Bibl. top. 196. Index to p. 201. $58. Elie Podeh's book reports on a wide-scale study in which ...
Education and media: Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000
Jul 01, 2002; ... Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000, by Melani McAlister. Berkeley, CA, New York, and London: University of California Press, 2001. ix + 276 pages. Acknowledgments to p. 280. Notes to p. 320. Bibl. to p. 346. Filmography to p. 347. Index to p. 358 ....
Modern history and politics: Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East
Jul 01, 2002; ... Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East, by Clement M. Henry and Robert Springborg. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. xxi + 229 pages. Bibl. to p. 240. Index to p. 258. $55 cloth; $20 paper. Reviewed by Gawdat Bahgat This ...
Modern history and politics: Cultural Resistance: Global and Local Encounters in the Middle East
Jul 01, 2002; ... Cultural Resistance: Global and Local Encounters in the Middle East, by Samir Khalaf. London, UK: Saqi Books, 2001. 308 pages. Bibl. to p. 322. Index to p. 326. 35 GBP This is an exceptionally wide-ranging collection of previously published essays and extracts from work in progress. The ...
Modern history and politics: Rachid Ghannouchi: A Democrat within Islamism
Jul 01, 2002; ... Rachid Ghannouchi: A Democrat within Islamism, by Azzam S. Tamimi. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. viii + 219 pages. Notes to p. 245. Bibl. to p. 258. Index to p. 268. $49.95. Some may say that the subtitle of this book is an oxymoron, that political Islam is the antithesis of ...
Middle East Politics Today: Government and Civil Society
Jul 01, 2002; ... Middle East Politics Today: Government and Civil Society, by Tareq Y. Ismael. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2001. xv + 455 pages. Appends. to p. 462. Notes to p. 482. Bibl. to p. 494. Index to p. 510. $59.95. Reviewed by Glenn E. Perry The volume under review, ...
Philosophy, religion, & science: Alfarabi and the Foundation of Islamic Political Philosophy
Jul 01, 2002; ... Alfarabi and the Foundation of Islamic Political Philosophy, by Muhsin Mahdi. Foreword by Charles E. Butterworth. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2001. xvii + 240 pages. Refs. to p. 248. Index to p. 264. $37.50. In his book Alfarabi and the Foundation of Islamic Political ...
Philosophy, religion, & science: Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam
Jul 01, 2002; ... Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, by John L. Esposito. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. xii + 160 pages. Notes to p. 168. Gloss. to p. 172. Index to p. 196. $25. Reviewed by M. Hakan Yavuz John Esposito is one of the most prominent American scholars who has been ...
Pre-20th century history: Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: The Roots of Sectarianism
Jul 01, 2002; ... Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World: the Roots of Sectarianism, by Bruce Masters. Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. xiii + 199 pages. Gloss. to p. 201. Bibl. to p. 217. Index to p. 222. $55. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World is an ...
Pre-20th century history: Safavid Government Institutions
Jul 01, 2002; ... Safavid Government Institutions, by Willem Floor. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2001. x + 283 pages. Bibl. to p. 293. Index to p. 311. $29.95 paper. This work follows a tradition established by Vladimir Minorsky, who in 1948 published a translation-cum commentary of Tadhkirat ...
Women: States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco
Jul 01, 2002; ... States and Women's Rights: The Making of Postcolonial Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, by Mounira M. Charrad. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2001. xviii + 241 pages. Tables. Maps. Gloss. to p. 246. Notes to p. 300. Bibl. to p. 317. Index to p. 326. $50 ....