UC Irvine
Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of California Irvine; author of Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam and producer of Flowers in the Desert, a compilation album featuring hard rock, metal, and hiphop bands from around the Muslim world
Truth, Lies and the Fighting in Gaza Today’s 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza lasted about 90 minutes, and the fighting has been resumed. Now, we’ll pull back and look at what it’s like to cover this ongoing story. It’s the ultimate challenge to the very concepts of “fairness” and “balance.” What one part of the audience sees as reporting the truth the other sees as propaganda. That’s a problem — not just for journalists in the field, but also for analysts of the media.
Middle East Democracy versus the 'Club of Kings' Over the weekend, Egypt opened the Rafah crossing on Gaza's southern border, a sign that the current military regime may be more responsive to its people than the Mubarak government was. The US is playing it down, but it's another sign of changing priorities in the Middle East. Last week's G-8 Summit promised $20- to $40 billion to help Egypt and Tunisia turn the so-called "Arab Spring" into peaceful democracy. At the same time, US ally Saudi Arabia is conducting a worldwide campaign to keep kingdoms and other autocracies just as they are. Segment image: A Yemeni soldier who joined sides with anti-regime protesters hold a rifle bearing the slogan "leave" during a demonstration calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on May 27, 2011. Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Saudi Arabia and the 'Club of Kings' Over the weekend, Egypt opened the Rafah crossing on Gaza's southern border, a sign that the current military regime may be more responsive to its people than the Mubarak government was. The United States is playing it down, but it's another sign of changing priorities in the Middle East. Last week's G8 Summit promised $20- to $40 billion to help Egypt and Tunisia turn the "Arab Spring" into peaceful democracy. At the same time, US ally Saudi Arabia is doing its best to keep autocratic regimes in place in Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, and even Morocco and Jordan. Does the US agree that the "Arab Spring" has reached its limit or are US and Saudi interests diverging after decades of trading oil for protection? Are the Saudis more worried about Iran or an "Arab Spring" in their own country? What about Israel and the world's oil supply?
Are Revolutions Transforming the Middle East? Since dictators were deposed by "people power" in Tunisia and Egypt, there's been talk of an "Arab Spring" that would finally bring an end to authoritarianism in the Middle East and even a flowering of democracy. But in Egypt today, street protests, strikes and sit-ins were criminalized by Hosni Mubarak's military successors. We hear more on the possible consequences of revolution there and elsewhere.
Are Revolutions Transforming the Middle East? Since the so-called "Arab Spring" began in Tunisia, there's been violence in that country. Today, Egypt's new military leaders formally criminalized protests. In Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Libya, there's no telling what kinds of changes domestic upheaval will bring. Iran and Saudi Arabia may not see changes at all. What can be learned from Georgia, Ukraine and other countries that threw off the yoke of Communism? When is the old order vulnerable to a new generation of freedom-loving democrats? When are high expectations vulnerable to traditional realities?
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?