The Broken Politics of the Middle East
From Yemen to Iraq and from Libya to Syria, the Middle East is drenched in chaos and violence. The bright promises of the Arab Spring uprisings have disappeared into a dark winter. Egypt, where a popular revolt overthrew Mubarak, is once again under the thumb of a military dictator with, are you sitting down, support from Washington. In pursuit of what is called moderation and stability the U.S. has backed a string of tyrants in the region. Democratic institutions were never encouraged beyond the rhetoric of press releases. The fundamental basis of the relationship between the U.S. and most Arab countries? Obey orders and keep the oil flowing. Corruption, autocratic rule, unemployment, poverty and extreme inequality are the norm in most of the Middle East. In this landscape, the appeal of messianic groups like ISIS strikes a chord.
Speaker
Nader Hashemi
Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Toronto. He was previously the founding Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver. He has been interviewed on PBS, NPR, BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and The Nation. He is the author of Islam, Secularism and Liberal Democracy and co-editor of The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future, The Syria Dilemma, Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East and a four-volume study on Islam and Human Rights. He is a contributor to Retargeting Iran edited by David Barsamian.
Gary Tomlin –
Read this and weep. An insightful and I believe accurate explanation of the dynamics driving middle east policy.
Carol –
This programme was incredible, wanted to send a line about that, thank you so much.