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Misconceptions, History, Culture, Language, Religion, Politics, and what we can and can't do as foreigners
Me in a nutshell.
Peace Corps Morocco, MA Middle East History UVA, Arabic enthusiast (not fluent...yet), lived in Syria over two summers, starting work at the at the American University of Iraq at Suleimaniya (AUIS) in September. I am generally obsessed with the Middle East and generally dissatisfied with US policies there (OK, to be fair, I am also dissatisfied with policies of ineffective regional leaders) and am in a constant search for possibilities for social, political, judicial & economic reform on local, state, regional and international levels. I also aim to encourage a better understanding of the region here in the States.
In Morocco for the summer
I am in Morocco for the summer as a group leader for one of the State Dept.'s Arabic immersion programs for high school students. Students are studying at the American Langauge Center (ALC) here in Marrakech. The ALC's main gig is teaching Moroccans English - 5,000 a semester - they have a really amazing program here. Life is general is great here because Morocco is my most favorite place around.
Mosaic
Watch news from the Middle East translated into English; new episode everyday; there is also a podcast.
Blogs on the Middle East
Websites, Orgs, Newspapers, Journals on the Middle East/ Foreign Policy in general
- Afghans for Civil Society
- Al Hayat
- Al Jazeera
- Al Jazeera (Arabic)
- Arab Reform Bulletin - Carnegie
- Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
- Aswat al Iraq
- Aswat al Iraq (Arabic)
- Atlantic
- Azzaman (Iraq)
- BBC
- BBC Arabic
- Bill Moyers (I love you)
- Carnegie - Arab Reform Bulletin
- Carnegie Endow. Internat'l Peace
- Center for a New American Security
- Center for American Progress
- Center for Public Integrity
- Council Foreign Realtions
- Crooks and Liars
- CS Monitor
- CSIS
- Daily Kos
- Daily Star (Lebanon)
- Democracy Digest
- Economist
- Fact Check
- Foundation for Middle East Peace (Isr/Palestine)
- Freedom House
- Frontline
- George Packer
- Haaretz (Israel)
- HRW - MENA
- Hullabaloo
- Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
- Iraq Blog Count
- It's Still Burning: Thoughts on the Middle East in the age of Obama
- Jerusalem Fund/ Palestine Center (DC)
- Juan Cole
- Just World News (Helena Cobban)
- Link TV - Television Without Borders
- McClatchy
- Middle East Institute
- Middle East Research & Information Project
- Nahrain (Iraq)
- Nation
- National
- National Democratic Institute
- NPR
- PBS
- Pew
- Politico
- Project on Middle East Democracy
- Radio Free Iraq
- Real Clear Politics
- Riverbend - Baghdad Burning
- US Institute of Peace
Books on the Middle East and Islam
- Descent into Chaos: The US and the Failure of Ntion BUlding in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, Ahmad Rashid
- Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, And the Wars Within, Shuja Nawaz
- Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians, Chris Hedges and Laila Al Arian
- Engaging the Muslim World, Juan Cole
- Ghost Wars, Steve Coll (My favotrie book)
- Islam, the West and Challenges of Modernity, Tariq Ramadan
- In the Footsteps of the Prophet, Tariq Ramadan
- Koran, Kalashnikov, and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan
- Leaderless Jihad, Terror Networks in the 21st C., Marc Sageman
- The Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats and the New Politics of the Middle East, Anthony Shadid
- Mission Accomplished: Or how we won the War in Iraq: The Experts Speak
- Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah, Olivier Roy
- The Failure of Political Islam, Olivier Roy
- Politics of Chaos in the Middle East, Olivier Roy
- The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008, Thomas Ricks
- The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One, David Kilcullen
- The Bin Ladens An Arabian Family in the American Century, Steve Coll
- THE EXPERTS SPEAK: THE DEFINITIVE COMPENDIUM OF AUTHORITATIVE MISINFORMATION
- The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman
- The Israel Lobby, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid
- Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values, Philippe Sands
- Understanding Terror Networks, Marc Sageman
- What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, Louise Richardson
Films on the Middle East
- http://www.lemontreemovie.com/lemontree_en.html
- Sling Shot Hip Hop
- Heavy Metal in Baghdad
- Brothers at Arms(Doc on troops in Iraq)
- The Dictator Hunter (Bringing Hissene Hibre, former Chad pres, to justice)
- Route 181 (an Israeli and Palestinian drive the 1947 Partition line and interview people)
- Encounter Point (On Israeli and Palestinian peace activitsts)
- Ghosts of Abu Ghraib (On the abuses at Abu Ghraib)
- Taxi Cab to the Darkside, (On abuses at Bagram in Afghanistan, best doc 2008)
- Iraq in Fragments (Documentary on Iraq under occupation)
- My Country, My Country (Documentary on Iraq under occupation - amazing)
- Baghdad High(Recent documentary on four Iraqi boys)
Possibilities for Political Reform: Islamic Democrats and Others
Understanding Radicalization
- Islamist De-Radicalization in Algeria (ME Institute policy brief)
- Several books on understanding radicalization reviewed by Ahamd Rashid in NY Review Books
- What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat
- "Deprogamming Jihadists" (NYTimes article)
- Saudis Use Cash and Counseling to Fight Terrorism
- Knowing the Enemy: Can Social Scientists Redefine the War on Terror? (George Packer, New Yorker)
- Engineers of Jihad (U. of Oxford Sociology Dept.)
Local/ National Interests: DC stuff, public school reform, prison reform
Labels
- Afghanistan
- Africa
- Arab Reform
- Books
- Calling out
- Darfur
- DC issues
- DC restaurants
- Democracy in the Middle East
- Education Reform
- Egypt
- Foreign Policy
- Hamas
- Hezbullah
- History
- Insurgency
- Iran
- Iraq
- Islam
- Israel
- jihad
- Justice
- Kurds
- Morocco
- Murshida
- Muslim Brotherhood
- Newspaper articles
- Opposition
- Other stuff
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Pictures
- Politics
- Prison reform
- Radicalization
- Reform
- Saudi
- Sharia
- Somalia
- Steak
- Sunni Shii
- Syria
- Torture
- Tribes
- Turkey
- Uighurs
- Violence
- Women
- Women and Islam
Blog Archive
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2009
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June
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- "Improbable American"
- Rami Khouri on Arab reaction to Iran.
- Jason Jones, will you marry me?
- Can someone please set up a debate between John "T...
- Don't cry for me Argentina!!
- Souqs in Marrakech.
- Jm3 al Fna.
- Kotubia Mosque, Marrakech.
- Arabic students' group.
- Best reason to build a lake ever; Berbers are bril...
- Me in Marrakech.
- Hired hands for the Iranian regime...
- Massacres in Tehran.
- Mullahs protesting in Iran.
- Obama 1 million; Nico Pitney 1 million; Regular Pr...
- Fred Barnes needs to go read an Iranian history bo...
- Ideological, simplistic nonsense from McCain.
- I second that!
- Brzezinski on neocon/ Ahmadinejad parallel
- Successful revolutions always have a friend at the...
- Parallel between 1979 and 2009. (Oh and, just for ...
- Limited democracy can't last forever.
- Revealing videos about Iranian protests.
- Republicans care more about politics than Iranians.
- Leverett (ultimate Iran expert) calls out David Fr...
- Women in Iranian protests.
- What is the endgame in Iran?
- Justice for Iranians.
- Loss of legitimacy in Iran.
- Morocco in 36 hours.
- Reconstruction in Afghanistan.
- Analysis of choices facing Khamenei. (And Rafsanja...
- Debate over US repsonse to Iranian protests.
- Iran demonstrations analysis.
- Play by play of goings on in Iran via Twitter.
- To support or not to support, and if to support, h...
- When a revolution becomes a revolution.
- Modern day Manifesto. Iran style.
- Three cheers for Iranians and Andrew Sullivan.
- Morocco bound.
- Difference between Moussavi and Ahmadinejad suppor...
- Hypocrisy.
- It was only a matter of time. Go Pakistan!
- Something great going on in Morocco.
- Interesting article on Muslim outreach group
- More on the 2009 Arab Public Opinion Poll.
- Impacts of prison terms on political dissidents.
- Warning!! Morocco Trip Approaching.
- Friday night steak dinner.
- Obama and Islamists
- On the Awakening in Iraq
- POMED report on Democracy in Egypt.
- New book on reformers in the Middle East.
- EGYPT.
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June
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Ask me a Question
Do you have a question concerning the Middle East region or about this blog? E-mail me at vandentoorn@gmail.com and I will try to answer it.
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