The Real Me and the Hypothetical Syrian Revolution - Part 1

The Syrian revolution undeniably belongs to the street. It’s rooted in the public realm where masses of physical bodies occupy the squares and real voices fill the air with defiance against the brutality of a relentless regime. The virtual realm of the revolution is a strong, second line of defense. Communities of online activists in Syria tirelessly spread the voices and events from the street as far and wide as possible, while the activists outside Syria continue the ripple effect, transferring what is happening inside Syria across the world. Supporters of the regime like to demeaningly describe the Syrian revolution as iftiraadiyyeh, hypothetical, “a virtual ...

Remembering Anthony Shadid

His untimely death silences one of the best Middle East reporters.  We at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, along with the global Middle East Studies community, mourn the loss of the brilliant, gifted Anthony Shadid, whose reporting of the Middle East over the past two decades enlightened all of us.  Perhaps he was not well known in Southeast Asia, except for readers of The New York Times, the Washington Post, and Boston Globe. But Shadid was a “must” for anybody seriously following the often bloody events in our region. The Middle East is a dangerous beat for journalists. Anthony, quietly fearless, braved ...

Anthony Shadid Is No Longer with Us

Anthony was a dear friend and colleague to so many of us at Jadaliyya. We are shocked and devastated by this loss. We have very little to say at this point, except to offer our deepest condolences to his family. Jadaliyya Editors   From the New York Times (Thursday Evening): At Work in Syria, Times Correspondent Dies Anthony Shadid, a prize-winning newspaper correspondent whose graceful dispatches for both The New York Times and The Washington Post covered nearly two decades of Middle East conflict and turmoil, died, apparently of an asthma attack, on Thursday while on a reporting assignment in eastern Syria. Tyler Hicks, a Times photographer who was with Mr. ...

Jadaliyya Launches Syria Page

Jadaliyya annouces the soft launch of its new Syria Page. You can access the page here. Similarly structured to our Egypt Page, the Syria Page will feature articles about Syria written by those on the ground in Syria as well as outside observers. If you are interested in contributing to this page, send us your submission to post@jadaliyya.com. We accept submissions in both Arabic and English. Our first set of articles address a range of topics, inlcuding an assessment of the accomplishments of the urpising, the unraveling of Syria's social contract, the ways in which both the regime and the opposition are deploying cyber attacks one another, and a ...

Sowing the Seeds of Dissent: Economic Grievances and the Syrian Social Contract’s Unraveling

Over the past ten months, the international community has gazed awestruck at how Syria’s uprisings have swept through a nation once viewed as pacified by a repressive regime. An analysis solely focusing on the brutality of the Asad regimes, however, elides some of the economic roots of popular unrest, particularly those stemming from the rural poor. As a result of four years of severe drought, farmers and herders have seen their livelihoods destroyed and their lifestyles transformed, becoming disillusioned with government promises of plentitude in rural areas. In the disjuncture between paternalistic promises of resource redistribution favoring Syria’s ...

Notes on the Syrian Uprisings (Part 1)

One of the many hidden gems in Jamal Barout’s groundbreaking four-part series on Syria’s political economy is the brief story of the three meetings that took place between former Syrian president Hafez al-Asad and Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev. Based on archives he accessed from the Presidential Palace, Barout narrates that Gorbachev met with Hafez Al-Asad three times, in June 1985, April 1987, and April 1990. In the first two meetings Gorbachev was full of “determination, bravado, and will to implement his programs of ‘perestroika’ and ‘glasnost.’” By the last meeting, however, poor Gorbachev was reportedly despondent and gloomy complaining to Asad about the downturn ...

Crocodiles of Arabia

Turkey's Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East: An Interview with Asli Bali (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of a two-part interview in which Asli Bali discusses Turkey's foreign policy interests and objectives with regards to the Middle East. In this second part of the interview, Asli discusses Turkey’s foreign policy in the face of the Arab uprisings, with particular reference to Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The interview was conducted on 11 February 2012. It was transcribed by Ziad Abu-Rish and Kristina Benson. Edited Transcript (Complete audio file below) Ziad Abu-Rish (ZA): Last time in the interview, you talked to us about how over the past ten years Turkish foreign policy has featured a transformation to a more focused engagement with Turkey’s ...

Palestinian Intellectuals to Syrian Regime: Not in Our Name!

[The following statement was issued in Arabic by Palestinian intellectuals offering their solidarity with the Syrian people and applying for members to the newly established Syrian Writers Union. It was translated into English and published as such by/on Wadiqratiya. See also the Palestinian rights organization Adalah’s condemnation of the Syrian regime.]   It is our honor, as Palestinian writers and signatories to this statement, to request as a group to be inducted into the Syrian Writers Union, which has been recently established by the free Syrian writers and intellectuals who stand with the people as they climb the ladder of freedom which has been ...