Only interesting if you're interested

Good article about the increasing number of Americans studying abroad in the Middle East.  Two (medium sized) problems:

1) Why is this article in the fashion and style section?

2) Many, many Arabic programs refuse to send their students to AUC (American University in Cairo) because it was moved out of the city several years ago.  They built a new campus outside of Cairo (I've heard about 2 hours with traffic) and it's like living on a compound, not living in Egypt, so to have the article focus so centrally on AUC is unfortunate and highly unrepresentative of some of the more established Arabic programs in the states.

Very Current

A great article by Rami Khouri (who came and spoke to SINARC) in today's NYT.  The money quote:

How to balance two worthy imperatives — justice and stability — is Lebanon’s great challenge today. A huge dilemma for the country is that most of the levers that will drive this process are in the hands of outsiders, including Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States, Israel and the Security Council. Events in Lebanon, as always, mirror wider tensions and regional and global deal-making.

Sorry I've been such a terrible blogger lately, the end of school has been hectic but I promise more to come before I go to Syria.

They only came for a day, but it was an important one

This post is a tad belated as the King and the Syrian President were here on Friday, but it was a very important visit to discuss the STL (the UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon) which has been in the news recently because its investigation is focusing on senior members of Hezbollah.  There wasn't too much coverage of the meeting here, oh, except for the live, daylong television coverage and the multitude of welcome signs (however not nearly as many as for Obama in Ghana last summer).

I'm not up on my Lebanese political blogs, but I do know one good one, Qifa Nabki.  It had two quality entries about the summit.  The first, a solid parsing of the positive changes in the dynamics between Saudi Arabia and Syria.  The second appears to confirm that the Saudis and the Syrians do indeed have a common interest in Lebanon's stability and both know that the STL has the potential to make Hezbollah feel cornered.  What does a 'cornered' Hezbollah result in?  Think 2006.  Bottom line, the Saudis are going to see what they can do about shutting down the tribunal.  There's a lot of rumblings in Lebanon right now, but here's hoping that everyone here wants peace and will talk before they start shooting.

Or at least wait until I leave in late August.  I kid, this is an incredible country with some serious problems,  but more than anything it deserves leaders who are invested in successfully coexisting with their rivals, not maneuvering for power regardless of the cost.

(As a side note, I watched a little bit of the live coverage at a cafe across the street from my dorm and I tried to engage the owners there in conversation about why the King of Saudi Arabia and the President of Syria were in Beirut, and they weren't telling me anything.  They definitely understood me, but were obviously convinced the blue-eyed girl standing in front of them would believe their categorical denials of any problems in Lebanon.)

Note to Self

Never let anyone I know climb Mt. Everest.  1 in 10 chance of dying is not an acceptable level of risk.

However, this article is inspirational and I sincerely hope the gentleman's trip goes off without a hitch.  If any country deserves a little bit of inspiration, it's Afghanistan.

As a side note, this could be an inspiration for all.  Despite the oft-heard cynicism, Afghanistan has the potential to be a model and inspiration for the rest of the world.  It was quite disturbing when I read recently that some people believed the US should abandon its mission in Afghanistan because nothing that happens there reverberates anywhere, while a success in Iraq would set an example for the rest of the Middle East.  I believe that inspiration for governmental reform can come from anywhere citizens of Middle Eastern countries decide.  But perhaps I'm not educated enough to know that discrimination against the Afghan people and their country is an accepted norm.

Read it read it

Since I like to pass on the best of what I read, here a few recommendations:

An article that literally changed the course of history by making a celebrated general resign.  Beyond that claim to fame lies an article that solidly deconstructs the dynamics of our current COIN (counter insurgency) strategy in Afghanistan.

If you watched the Germany England match a few days ago, you were probably impressed by the German squad.  Either that or you're blind.  Did you know that 11 of their players could have chosen to play for other countries?  This article explains how changes in Germany's citizenship requirements have affected the squad they're fielding this year.  (If your initials are AJR and you took a class on this last semester, I hope you like this one).

Finally, a more general recommendation for the the Social Q's column in the New York Times.  As it describes itself "Social Q's offers lighthearted advice about awkward social situations".  It's brief, to the point, and hilarious (most of the time).  This week's column answered questions on weddings, weddings, and weddings, but I swear that's not the norm.