Dumbest things written by Western intellectuals who did junkets to Libya (close competition):
• 3d place: The shores of Tripoli by Stephen Walt
http://goo.gl/pkzZu: "Libya doesn't feel like other police states that I have visited."
• 2d place: My chat with the colonel by Anthony Giddens
http://goo.gl/VCEo4: "As one-party states go, Libya is not especially repressive. Gadafy seems genuinely popular."
• 1st place: No Democratic Dominoes in the Middle East by Benjamin Barberwww.huffingtonpost.com
"Libya has a tradition of participatory local governance because of Qadaffi's long interest in participatory democracy and peoples' committees. Moreover, he is not detested in the way that Mubarak has been detested and rules by means other than fear."
Posted on 28 February 2011
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Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam met Qadhafi for a long talk in 2007 (in return for "my standard consulting fee," whatever that is). "Was this a serious conversation or an elaborate farce? Naturally, I came away thinking—hoping—that I had managed to sway Col. Gadhafi in some small way, but my wife was skeptical." Ah, Mrs. Putnam brought one of the two big egos in that tent down to earth. Good for her.
With Libya's Megalomaniac 'Philosopher-King' by Robert D. Putnam | WSJgoo.gl
On Jan. 19, 2007, my wife, Rosemary, and I spent several hours with Col. Moammar Gadhafi in his tent in the Libyan desert, sipping tea and discussing sociology and political theory.
Posted on 28 February 2011
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It's true: "Events in Egypt have laid bare a stark divide between neoconservatives and the Israeli elite: While the former are ecstatic about the fall of Mubarak and the prospect of a democratic Egypt, the latter are wary—at best. 'Supporting democracy is part of the genetic code of Americans,' says Martin Kramer, a senior fellow at Jerusalem's Shalem Center. 'Israelis,' on the other hand, 'like the status quo.'"
Rumor Debunked by James Kirchick | TNRwww.tnr.com
Many Israelis view talk about democracy and liberalism in Egypt (and the rest of the Arab world, for that matter) as pollyannish.
Posted on 28 February 2011
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The NYT reports (
http://goo.gl/7i3Nb): "A satirical YouTube clip mocking Qaddafi's megalomania is fast becoming a popular token of the Libya uprising across Middle East. And in an added affront to Qaddafi, it was created by an Israeli living in Tel Aviv." Here it is.
Muammar Gaddafi: Zenga Zenga Song | Noy Alooshe Remix | YouTubewww.youtube.com
Noy Alooshe said he saw Qaddafi's televised speech in which the Libyan leader vowed to hunt down protesters "inch by inch, house by house, home by home, alleyway by alleyway," and immediately identified it as a "classic hit."
Posted on 27 February 2011
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"It's crazy. The Israelis should welcome what's happened in Egypt," Paul Wolfowitz said. (Wolfowitz thus joins Peter Beinart:
http://goo.gl/fb/OGDCk.) Well, if you had any doubt as to whether events in Egypt were detrimental to Israel, they should be laid to rest. When this man tells you something is in your interest, turn around, face the other direction... and run.
Wolfowitz rebukes Israelis by Ben Smith | Politicowww.politico.com
Paul Wolfowitz sharply rebuked Israeli leaders for what his interviewer on CNN today, Fareed Zakaria, described as "nostalgia" for fallen Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Posted on 27 February 2011
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Sunday top reading:
• Honorable mention: The debauching of the LSE (Saif Qadhafi's alma mater) by Melanie Phillips
http://goo.gl/fb/MMESO• 3d place: How the Arabs Turned Shame Into Liberty by Fouad Ajami
http://goo.gl/fb/Xglpl• 2d place: Libyans failed by Left orientalism by David Burchell (esp. re: Edward Said)
http://goo.gl/cRfZD
• 1st place: Bernard Lewis interviewed: A mass expression of outrage against injustice | JPostwww.jpost.com
Lewis regards a dash toward Western-style elections as constituting "a dangerous aggravation," and fears that radical Islamic movements would be best placed to exploit so misguided a move. (Rebuttal by Max Boot:
http://goo.gl/Y2hVs.)
Posted on 27 February 2011
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Mark LeVine at min. 19:40: "Imagine, if we do some counter-intuitive history, if we hadn't invaded Iraq. Right now, Saddam would probably be sitting next to Ben Ali or Mubarak and the Iraqi people would be thanking us instead of looking at us as a country that invaded them." Absurd. Saddam would be doing at least what Qadhafi is doing now, if not worse. There'd be mass murder and we'd be weighing intervention.
CrossTalk: Middle East Revolutions! | RTwww.youtube.com
Peter Lavelle asks his guests why America and its Western allies have always talked the talk of democracy in the Arab Middle East, but could never walk the walk.
Posted on 25 February 2011
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Rashid Khalidi is in revolt! He praises mainstream Western media for "showing images of ordinary people peacefully making eminently reasonable demands for freedom, dignity, social justice, accountability, the rule of law, and democracy." Then he rebukes Al Jazeera for "the insidious Islamist bent of its coverage," since "there is nothing specifically Islamist about most of those participating." Unexpected.
Reflections on the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt by Rashid Khalidi | FPmideast.foreignpolicy.com
Arab youth have been shown to have hopes and ideals not that different from those of the young people who helped bring about democratic transitions in Eastern Europe.
Posted on 25 February 2011
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This week's best:
• Honorable mention: Peter Beinart's Liberal Fantasies by Benjamin Kerstein
http://goo.gl/fb/OGDCk• 3d place: Losing the Middle East by Benny Morris
http://goo.gl/fb/ARPKS• 2d place: US should direct Mideast storm of change toward Iran by Ari Shavit
http://goo.gl/fb/iWaEbNeedless to say, I don't entirely agree with the argument in my top choice, but he makes it passionately and persuasively:
• 1st place: Mideast unrest is a change the world should believe in: interview with Fouad Ajamiwww.haaretz.com
"Revolutions get betrayed, hijacked, go astray, wrong men come to power. All these outcomes are very possible, but there is something in this moment that bodes well for Arabs."
Posted on 25 February 2011
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So you follow me on Facebook. But you might have 1,328 friends, and by the time you check in, my posts are out of sight. What to do? You can now subscribe to my posts by RSS here:
http://goo.gl/xmK5C. You can even have them consolidated and sent to you in one daily email. And also makes it easier to share links with friends who aren't on Facebook. Try it.
Martin Kramer on Facebook by emailfeedburner.google.com
Consolidated in one email, on any day there is a post. Click on the link to subscribe.
Posted on 24 February 2011
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