So, since I neglected to talk about that Thomas Friedman piece in my last journal entry, I’ll talk a little bit about it now. Friedman talked about the cartoon riots a bit and proposed a theory about the reason why they’ve gotten so out of control aside from the conjecture that Arabs or Muslims are inherently violent people. Friedman suggested that the out-of-control riots have a lot to do with the economic circumstances of these people. People in Arab nations are among the least employed in the world, and the countries involved in the riots are among the least productive in the world – each of these numbers is comparable to the rates in sub-Saharan
Africa. No doubt, the cartoons were very disrespectful and showed absolutely no sensitivity. But, there’s also no doubt that the reaction to them was disproportionate to what incited it. The reason the riots were so large and so out of control isn’t that Arabs are too violent or that all Muslims hate
America, but that the region is so economically depraved. We see evidence of this everywhere: economic disparity leads to violence. This is true with the black and Hispanic population in
America, and it’s true with the Arab population in the
Middle East. The real way to make
America safe if by helping that region become more economically developed. Instead of bombs, the
United States needs to build economic connections with the region and promote humans’ rights to that region. The UAE,
Syria, and
Saudi Arabia have the potential to become the new
India, and we just need to promote that culture. In some ways, throwing money at a problem even this big does work.
oreoremote's blog
The Waron Terra: It's the Economy, Stupid!
A Word On The Importance of Public Diplomacy
I read a really great Thomas Friedman piece in the paper today about the cartoon riots, and I’m glad that someone has actually tried to analyze the cause of the riots beyond just saying “violent Muslims.” It all comes back to a real problem I have with the War on Terror. Everyone keeps saying this is a different kind of war, but it seems like very few people have actually ever digested that idea. I find that fighting the “war” with actual weapons and old-school style wars just exacerbates the problem. I’m not advocating total passivism, but I am advocating tact. I guess I feel that way for two reasons. Read More »
That Port Security Thing
Washington bureaucracy is a tricky thing. It’s hard for me to understand what rules and regulations made it so that the recent deal to grant security of 6 American ports to a company from the
United Arab Emirates never made it to the President’s desk to review. I’ll never understand why Bush hasn’t vetoed a single bill his entire 5 years in office, but feels that he needs to veto any bill that goes through Congress that stifles this one deal.
When Juicy Couture Translates into an Invitation to Rape
South Africa has one of the highest rates of rape in the world, and only 1 in 9 women actually reports the crime. One of these women claims to have been raped by the South African Deputy President Zuma. Zuma was thought to be assured the position as next the next President of South Africa until this claim came up. On the other hand, the woman is a 31 year old AIDS activist. If this accusation is true, it shows us such a stark contrast between the
United States and some African nations – perhaps how eerily similar they are? I think accusations of a high-ranking politician raping a woman would probably ruin that politicians career. But, at the same time, with the accusations of Schwarzenegger groping a woman or the Lewinsky calendar, I’m not sure if the standards we set for our own leaders are much better. Read More »
An analysis of violence in the Middle East
I’ve been trying to figure out why so much violence seems to emanate from Islamic countries. Are these countries really more violent than other parts of the world, or does it just seem that way because it garners so much more media attention?
I’m inclined to think it’s a combination of the two, which also makes me wonder why the culture seems to be more violent. I refuse to believe that Arabs are inherently violent or that Islam promotes death or that more than a small minority of the population is to blame for all this violence. But, if I had to conjecture as to why it seems like so much violence comes from that part of the world, I’d have to attribute it to multiple issues that have contributed to a complex culture where violence seems like the only solution. First, a group of fundamentalists was born. They were very smart, dedicated to their cause, and unbelievably persuasive. A lot of cultures can get to this point though. We have the KKK in the
United States, another violent group that’s very dedicated to their cause. The difference is that the Islamic group of fundamentalists had a group to feed on. Society was so hopeless, so desperate, that they looked to the fundamentalists as a way out. Unemployment in Saudi countries is high and the western threat of oppression is constantly looming. This makes people very prone to persuasion, which is why this group gains a following and why so many people have faith in them. It’s not too different to why the German people believed in Hitler because he promised reform in a time where the German economy was dead.
Hamas and A Word About Whack-A-Mole Diplomacy
What’s the world supposed to think when Hamas is elected into power in
Palestine? A rigged election? A coerced election? A population that’s in favor of terrorism? 3 million people that favor suicide bombing followed by 72 virgins in heaven and the destruction of
Israel?
Morales-It!
Earlier this year Evo Morales became the President of Bolivia, the country’s first indigenous President in a country where 60% of the population is indigenous. This seems like a just victory in a place where most of the population lives in poverty and is continually oppressed, partially because of a lack of representation. But, in his first week in office, Morales has been criticized and assailed almost nonstop for tipping the Bolivian presidency too far to the left. So, the question is, is Evo Morales Bolivia’s mirror image of President Bush – an obstinate head of state who leads the country from extreme points of views? Read More »
The Non-Frivolity of Peanuts
I don’t think I’ll ever open up the Merc or The New York Times and see a cartoon of Jesus walking into an abortion clinic with a bomb nailed to his back. Yet, the Islamic side of that same image, a cartoon of Mohammed wearing a turban with a lit bomb in it, was published in several European newspapers. The image is clearly disrespectful and exhibits deep ignorance, but the question at hand isn’t whether or not the cartoon is civil or whether the burning of Norwegian and Danish consulates is a just response (the answer to both questions, is, by the way, no!), but whether or not freedom of expression outweighs the need for religious respect.
